This is a continuation of Part 1

After we recruited about sixty students – gathering names and email addresses, we created a spreadsheet of the students from the clipboard. I also started a facebook group for SFL Lewis and began making ourselves known throughout the Lewis network. I sent out an email to all of the potential members, in order to hold a preliminary meeting so that we could form the group.

Michael Barnett had told me that it is typical to bring in about 10% of the students on your email list for the first meeting. So I was not too surprised when I had about seven or eight students at my first meeting. We spent the first meeting discussing our own individual beliefs and stances on the issues. This was in order to establish a foundation of dialogue within the group. Most of the students were firmly against abortion, some were against the death penalty, and some even saw being pro-life as incorporating all issues pertaining to a respect for life and the well-being of others.

Throughout the first few meetings, we had a variety of different students who would come and go, but eventually we found the core members who were willing to give up some of their time every week to see this group succeed on campus. These members soon became officers.

I started the process of school recognition only a couple weeks after recruiting. Most of this process was typical of any school organization seeking campus recognition – a constitution, mission statement, list of officers, etc.

As our numbers were few, collective input for the mission statement and the constitution was minimal. One thing we learned is that a group should work on their mission statement and their constitution over a period of the first few years before they decide on exactly what it will say, instead of setting it in stone within the first few months. This gives the pro-lifers on campus a chance to determine the special needs and interests their own school has.

For example, some schools have separate organizations against the death penalty, and some have special groups that work to educate on genocide or war. Taking into account the other groups on campus can help shape the pro-life group and its efforts to educate on all life issues. The pro-life group can thus include not only abortion and euthanasia in their mission statement, but also these other issues, so as to show that we take interest in all issues pertaining to the respect for life.

At Lewis, we have a group called STAND, which is a social justice group that focuses primarily on genocide and the death penalty, and how human rights are affected by it. Meeting with groups like STAND, we hope to co-sponsor events pertaining to these issues so that we can begin building friendly relations with other groups on campus.

After we completed the paperwork, we prepared to meet with student government as the next step to being recognized by the university.

To be continued…