How Hillsdale Marches for Life
Written by Meghan Schultz
The fresh, cold air surrounded a crowd of tens of thousands of people. Peacefully waving colorful signs, chanting and cheering, praying and singing, the crowd at the 2020 March for Life made its way down the streets of Washington, D.C. We had just listened to rousing, inspiring speeches from abortion survivors, congressmen and women, and the president himself. People from across the country came together to march for a united, noble cause, and the joyous energy spread throughout the crowd, taking up its form in rosaries, cheers, or conversations about the stories that led each one of us there. Thousands of college students and high schoolers attended the event, including three busloads of Hillsdale College students who drove through the night and planned to head home in a matter of hours.
This year was my fourth March for Life, and my experience is different every time I attend. Each year, the group I’m traveling with experiences a mutual sense of anticipation for the pilgrimage to the event, but each year I am left with new thoughts, prayers, and a sense of renewed responsibility. My passion for the cause increases every year, and my time at Hillsdale helped it to grow even more.
I didn’t expect my education as a second-semester freshman at Hillsdale to be so influential on my experience of the event, but traveling with fellow students was impactful. More than just those in the pro-life club at Hillsdale attend the March. Students dashed to sign up for a spot on the bus, hoping to ensure a bank of seats for themselves and their friends. The traveling day came, and after the initial chaos of finding where to sit on the bus faded, joyful conversations, games, and a few beginning-of-a-long-night naps began. The next morning, we dropped our belongings off at Hillsdale’s D.C. location, the Kirby Center, and headed out for the day. Walking in camaraderie with thousands of people championing the same cause, fighting for the rights of the unborn and against the lie that abortion empowers women, reaffirmed the importance of Hillsdale’s core values of freedom to me.
Hillsdale values each person becoming the best version of themselves. From our charter’s non-discriminatory clause to the core curriculum Constitution class discussing free speech, I saw the fruit of Hillsdale in the streets of D.C., surrounded by people from all over the country. Students, empowered by their education, sought out the good, true, and beautiful by fighting for human rights. I have confidence that my education here will continue to prepare me to stand up for what I believe in, and that this will not be the last time I crowd onto a bus for a late-night drive in January to Washington, D.C.
Meghan Schultz, 23, is an English major who loves a cup of coffee and a good story, preferably together. A Michigan native who appreciates fall drives and summer days at the lake, she aspires to be a book editor and enjoys working in youth ministry.
Published in March 2020