When you first hear “Pro-Life,” what is the first thing you think of? Probably abortion, the death penalty, or maybe even euthanasia. However, there is much more to the Pro-Life cause then just these things. This is what Mrs. Crowder and Mr. Harmon are trying to emphasize through the revamping of the Jesuit Pro-Life Club.
At the beginning of this 2013-2014 school year, the club was transferred under the authority of Campus Ministry. Though usually active, the club has seen declining attendance in the past few years. This year, no students showed up to the first announced meetings. For this reason, Mr. Harmon and Mrs. Crowder are trying to figure out why this is, and they are initiating a makeover of the organization to adapt to the students’ interests and needs.
Mrs. Crowder asserted that “the abortion issue…is a big part but not the only part” of the Pro-Life message, continuing that “we are trying to figure out how we can raise awareness of all the pro-life issues, but also get students at the right point.”
Some new discussion topics that the new group will discuss are what it means to be good men, acting with love and responsibility in a variety of complex situations. They will start with issues much more basic than abortion and the death penalty, Â such as what it means to make good decisions and what it means if you are faced with a difficult situation. Harmon and Crowder hope to arm students with a toolbox of knowledge that they will be able to use as they face everyday moral issues.
Mrs. Crowder said that a new aim of the club will be to “have more conversations about what it means to make moral choices beyond just the theology classroom. Her guess is that “there are students who want to know what to do in different situations and what the Catholic Church teaches about them,” and her hope is that “a lot of students will want to engage in this conversation.”
Along with her and Mr. Harmon, many other faculty members are interested in the cause. They will collaborate to create this year’s Issues Day, which will be focused on being a man of love and responsibility. Each of the different periods will take on a different aspect of life. For instance, Community Service will discuss how to deal with the elderly. Mr. Donahue, meanwhile, will discuss the same concept in relation to war and peace. Mr. Harrington and Mr. McGhee plan to discuss loving those who have made bad choices. Finally, the athletic department will explain these concepts on the playing field. With that, Mrs. Crowder highlighted that Issues Day will be the “first introduction into how we are re-envisioning the Pro-Life Club.”
Along with its changed message, the Pro-Life Club will also have a changed name. Rather than the Pro-Life Club, Mrs. Crowder and Mr. Harmon plan to call the group the Saint Joseph Society in order to encompass its expanded intentions. They envision that Ursuline could have a similar club called the Saint Mary’s Society and that the two clubs could potentially coordinate events together.
The Saint Joseph’s Society is meant to be shaped around the students’ needs. In the past, the Pro-Life club has attended local abortion rallies, in addition to organizing a trip to the national rally in Washington D.C. Also, Mrs. Crowder said that “we are asking the students what they want to discuss and what resources they want, and hope to hold those discussions throughout the next year.”
The society will start out with lunchtime discussions for this spring semester, and should be fully organized and active next year. The society may even consider removing the name of a club, and just being a regular discussion option open to all students. Mrs. Crowder and Mr. Harmon will gauge interest and will talk to students about what course of action they deem best. Whatever form the discussions and events take, they want to hear students’ questions. Though the two can’t always provide answers, they can give students the resources and tools so that they can figure out their own opinions and make the right decisions for themselves.
As Issues Day nears, Mrs. Crowder encourages everyone’s participation, explaining that “Mr. Harmon and I are trying to figure out what you guys want and we know that sometimes it is hard for an adolescent male to see advertisements of someone eight months pregnant walking to an abortion clinic and see what is my role in that and what can I do in that situation so we are really taking it back to the beginning to see what choices you have to make as a high schooler and what resources and stuff you need. We are looking for what questions you  have and what things do you want to do.”
