I am not writing this letter to try to change your view on this highly controversial topic. While I am pro-choice, I understand that you are entitled to your own opinion, and that this article is not likely to change it. I am writing this in hopes to help you understand the error in the ways that you spread your personal opinion across the campus that thousands of students call home.
On Thursday morning, for the second time since I have lived on this campus, countless people woke up and faced unexpected and harsh judgements during their daily commute to their places of work and study. McAlister Avenue is not just a public walkway; it is the front yard of thousands of women who may or may not have had to face the difficult decision to end a pregnancy, and many men who have stood by the women they love as they confront that challenging, very personal choice. When you covered the main pathway of our campus with messages like “Have courage, choose life,” “Adoption is the loving option,” and even “#YaMamaDidIt,” you were not providing advice or support, or opening a thoughtful discussion in a respectful manner. You were harassing.
I am aiming to help you understand that just because you littered the sidewalks with pink hearts and words like “beautiful,” and “flower,” and “justice,” does not mean that you were preaching love. Just because you are on a college campus does not mean that you shared your ideas in a safe and welcome environment. Just because you don’t believe in abortion, does not mean that you have the right to bully and persecute others who have had a different experience than you, in a place that they call home.
So, to the people who committed this act: I hope you realize where you have faulted. When you saw the brave souls who changed the narrative of the messages that you left, by providing trigger warnings and reworking sentences into inclusive, supportive statements, I hope that you thought about how you can speak and share your thoughts with more respect. When you read this article, I hope that you consider the trauma you inflicted upon many of your fellow students on Thursday.
