Tigers for Life (TFL), a pro-life student organization, has ramped up its efforts to engage in discussion and education about pro-life issues this year, primarily through tabling in Coates Student Center (CSC) and through inviting speakers to campus.
First-year Diane Fournier, director of outreach and public relations for TFL, explained that tabling is a good way to start a dialogue with people who may not typically come to a meeting.
“We are trying to get more people involved, so we’re tabling more often, trying to get more people to talk to us,” Fournier said.
Sophomore Hannah Williams, vice president of TFL, suggested that tabling is also a good strategy for the club to recruit new members.
“This year, tabling has really helped our club in terms of communicating on life issues with new students or students on campus and students who were here last year that maybe didn’t get involved,” Williams said.
Saving lives and supporting mothers in need is the group’s main focus, according to senior Luke Ayers, the founder and president of TFL.
“Our goal is to save lives: lives of unborn children, lives of people who are vulnerable for medical reasons and also to support women who are facing unexpected pregnancies,” Ayers said.
TFL is now able to be more active than in its previous years because it has had time to grow and gain momentum, according to Ayers.
“It’s part of the natural growth of any club; this is the beginning of the fourth year, so three full years that the club has been around. We’re just able to do a lot more because we have more people that are really dedicated to having a larger presence on campus and having more discussion with other students,” Ayers said.
Officers have also made an effort to welcome guest speakers to educate members about the facts of pro-life issues.
“We’ve tried to bring in more guest speakers this year because I think that encourages involvement from students to be able to hear more and more information from sources other than what they would normally get on campus,” Williams said.
Even when there are no guest speakers, education and discussion are a priority at the group meetings.
“We try to have discussions so that when people who are pro-choice come they’re able to not just be lectured, but have the opportunity to share what they think and have organic space to discuss what people think,” Ayers said.
People of all different opinions are welcome to come to the meetings, but members of the group understand why pro-choice people may not feel welcome, so they use tabling as a way to exchange ideas.
“I understand why [pro-choice] people wouldn’t want to come to meetings, but that’s the purpose of our tabling discussions,” Fournier said.
Students interested in joining Tigers for Life can email the organization at [email protected] or attend a meeting held every Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Tehuacana Room.
