Students rally, pray for pro-life efforts in nation’s capital
Liberty University has a longstanding tradition of providing opportunities for students to engage in large events in Washington, D.C. This school year, the university has provided two bus trips, taking over 1,600 students to join thousands of other pro-life supporters to be a voice for the unborn.
On Dec. 1, the day oral arguments began in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court case, close to 1,000 students boarded 21 buses on campus at 4 a.m. Before they prayed at the U.S. Supreme Court Building, they met Liberty President Jerry Prevo and other university administrators at the U.S. Capitol Building.
Morse Hyun-Myung Tan, the newly appointed dean of Liberty University School of Law, explained the case and its significance.
“This is an opportunity to potentially be a turning point in moving the Roe-Doe regime, weakening Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and making it an end of the Roe-Doe regime, eventually,” Tan said.
“I’m beyond grateful for the overwhelming response of our Liberty student body who are defining what it means to be Champions for Christ as the pro-life generation.”
— Jerry Prevo, Liberty President
The comments were filmed and shown during Convocation in the Vines Center the same morning, where the student body joined in prayer, led by Prevo, asking that God would empower the justices to speak boldly in defense of the unborn.
“Liberty University students were able to take part in praying at our nation’s capital for one of the most important Supreme Court cases in our nation’s history,” Prevo said after the event. “I’m beyond grateful for the overwhelming response of our Liberty student body who are defining what it means to be Champions for Christ as the pro-life generation.”
While pro-choice supporters were also there in large numbers, Liberty students focused on being an example of godly boldness, praying in groups while also singing hymns and worship songs.
“It’s so important for Liberty to be here,” senior Maggie Donica said, “to represent not only conservatives but (also) Christians and show that Christian conservatives care about this issue and that it is important to us because it is important to God.”
The trip was sponsored by Concerned Women for America in partnership with Liberty’s Standing for Freedom Center. CWA President and CEO Penny Nance, a 1988 Liberty alumna and current member of Liberty’s Board of Trustees, also addressed the crowd.
Penny Nance (’88), CWA President
On Jan. 21, over 600 students traveled to D.C. for the 49th annual March for Life. The trip was hosted by LU Send and the Standing for Freedom Center.
Students attend the March for Life on Jan. 29, 2022.
Students participated in a kickoff rally on the National Mall featuring singers Jordan St. Cyr and Matthew West (who joined virtually). Speakers included Kirk Cameron, Lisa Robertson, Toni McFadden, Kristen Waggoner, Katie Shaw, George Schuberg, Father Mike Schmitz, Cissie Graham Lynch, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, and Katie Young. Also present were pro-life congressmen Mike Kelly and Dan Crenshaw.
“I loved how there were so many people who took time to come out to march as well as show their support for this crucial issue,” said student Sierra Number. “Humans are made by God and deserve the chance to live.”
Throughout Liberty’s history, student pro-life groups have marched in the nation’s capital. Here, student Van Dalton holds a sign during the eighth annual March for Life rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 22, 1981. Dalton was the president of Liberty’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter and coordinated four busloads of students for the march.
(Photo from the 1981 Selah Yearbook)
