By Emma Maple | Editor-in-Chief
On Monday, April 17, the Students for Life club decorated sections of the Hello Walk with pro-life messages drawn in chalk. Some of the messages featured statements like “choose life,” “guns don’t kill people, abortions do” and “all babies want to be borned [sic].”
This was the second time Students for Life used chalk to get their message across. They did it once before, in the fall of 2022, although those messages were erased by other students in less than 24 hours.
Senior Sarah Quinn, president of Students for Life, said the goal of the chalking was to “get people thinking” and “show them we’re a club that exists.”
This club event occurred a few days after students began using chalk to share their opinions regarding the current hiring policy. Because of the time correlation, some students questioned if the two events were related at all. One student commented on the Students for Life Instagram post saying, “Can’t even come up with your own ideas, y’all stole this from Westminster Round’s fight for LGBTQ inclusion…”
However, Quinn said that Students for Life decided to write chalk messages a few weeks before students began using it for hiring policy activity. The club meets every other Monday, and during the April 3 meeting, they decided they would chalk during their next meeting.
Quinn said the thought process was, “This seems like a good time and the snow has melted, and it seems not super rainy.”
Once people began using chalk to share their viewpoints about the hiring policy, Quinn said the members of the club considered not doing chalk messages so people wouldn’t think there was a correlation between the two events. Ultimately, however, they decided to move forward with their scheduled activity.
The photos that Students for Life posted on their Instagram account garnered almost 60 comments within the first week it was up. Some of the comments applauded Students for Life for their viewpoints. Most of the comments were focused on disagreement with the general stance of the Students for Life club or with the specific messages in the photos. Nearly 20% of the comments used profanity. The majority of the comments were argumentative and combative.
Quinn said she found most of the comments “kind of amusing.”
“It’s just a little bit of chalk, I don’t really understand why people are getting so upset about it…. I don’t think we’re gonna change anyone’s mind through chalk. The issue is a little more nuanced than, like, a slogan.”
Quinn does hope that the chalk can get students thinking and help them consider some different perspectives.