Back from the Dead: Students For Life
Photo Courtesy of Julia Jensen
No student at The King’s College can ignore the current state of the school: financial uncertainty, budget cuts, late rent, the works. Despite this turbulence, one student organization hasn’t simply been surviving but thriving: Students For Life (SFL).
President of the org Julia Jensen, Vice President Rachel Guerra and Lead Associate Trey Shell took a club with little previous activity, almost no funding and an incredibly controversial subject and made it one of the most well-regarded student organizations this year.
Two years ago, social media engagement for SFL was 50-70% less than what it is now. SFL has hosted more large events than the previous two years but has received much more positive attention.
Their upcoming event, the Spring Into Life Gala, is being hosted off-campus on Saturday, Feb. 25. It will feature professional catering and a hired-out bartender. It promises to rival the Red and Green Affair in attendance.
How did this happen? First, going into the 2022-2023 academic year, Guerra and Jensen knew something needed to change.
“Audience,” Guerra said. “We knew we wanted to change our audience.”
Looking back to an email from 2020-2021, SFL had an explicitly anti-abortion activist brand. Back then, SFL featured a weekly prayer focus, highlighted relevant legislation and offered volunteering opportunities at Expect Hope, a biblical guidance and residency nonprofit for pregnant mothers who “chose life.”
“Our first event was a debate,” Jensen highlighted. “We made a sort of motto at the bottom of all our emails and newsletters: inclusivity, advancement, life. We wanted to start in the community, with students.”
This debate-style event, the Nine Month Dilemma, featured speakers from pro-abortion and anti-abortion positions.
However, the event's goal was not just to get a big turnout but to change expectations moving forward.
“People didn’t immediately assume Students For Life was a welcoming environment,” Jensen continued. “We’ve been told, ‘Hey, I want to come to your event, but I’m not pro-life.’ Great, that’s exactly why we want you to come.”
SFL has become a platform for honest conversations about what life should mean and how abortion has affected people and society. While all three leaders at SFL are anti-abortion, they put the “passion” in compassion: they treat both positions with sobriety and respect. In addition, their events are branded to be fun and good-hearted: Spring Into Life, Roles over Rolls and so on.
“We acknowledge that, despite being a critical subject, abortion can be a really depressing subject.” Guerra admitted, “That’s why we try to celebrate life in addition to confronting the negative effects of abortion.”
All too often, the abortion debate is about who can more effectively demonize the opposition. In August of 2020, anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson spoke at the RNC and characterized Planned Parenthood doctors as apathetic sociopaths who joke “Beam me up, Scotty!” as they perform abortion procedures. Conversely, the site Pro Choice America accuses their opposition of executing women, imprisoning children, denying healthcare to the hungry and sick and promoting far-right radicalization.
“As much as we’re pro-life, there are many valid perspectives on both sides of this issue,” Guerra explained. “So many people have different positions on abortion... we wanted to open up this org in the biggest way possible, and a debate is the best way we wanted to do that.”
Funding is a massive factor in successful events, especially during this season at King’s. Early on, SFL leadership realized they couldn’t depend on discretionary funding, so they sought outside donors.
“We needed outside donors for what we wanted to do,” Jensen said. “The Spring Into Life Gala is a multi-thousand dollar event.”
Finally, all three executive members at SFL use opportunities to talk about the organization. It’s common for student leaders to have an “org life” and “student life;” when you’re not at a meeting or planning an event, it’s easy to “clock out” and not fully embody your org in your free time.
Not only do Guerra, Jensen and Shell avoid this, but they also do not even consider it an option. Barring the weather, any conversation topic with Guerra, Jensen or Shell will eventually segue into their next big event, the strength of their org’s convictions and so on.
“This is our brainchild… something we really wanted to own,” Jensen stated with a confident smile.
New audience, new perspectives, new funding: SFL has completely rebranded its image and achieved new relevance against all odds by focusing on these three things.
Evan Louey-Dacus is a senior studying Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. He attended Oxford as a summer student and currently works in research and business strategy. Evan is the President of the King's Debate Society and the Opinion Editor and Food Columnist at the Empire State Tribune.