Benedictine College Students will continue the Fight for Life

Students Participate in the first March for Life in the Post-Roe Era

Friday, January 20, 2023

Hundreds of Benedictine College students boarded buses and endured the 1,100 mile, 24-hour trip to Washington, D.C., to take part in the first National March for Life since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.  Always a strong supporter of life, Benedictine College usually brings the largest group traveling the greatest distance for the annual March. This year, the Ravens Respect Life (RRL) student group rallied more than 200 students to attend the January 20 event.

“Benedictine will bring a spirit of pilgrimage to the March, focused on prayer and sacrifice,” said Joe Hogan, a Benedictine College sophomore who is the president of Ravens Respect Life. “We march not for ourselves but for the babies, for motherhood and fatherhood, for family, for Christ, and for the Ravens who might have been. We refuse to relent in opposing the injustice of abortion. We refuse to compromise on life. We demand federal protection for the preborn, or we never stop marching.

“We refuse to relent in opposing the injustice of abortion. We refuse to compromise on life. We demand federal protection for the preborn, or we never stop marching.”

Joe Hogan
Ravens Respect Life President

Benedictine College freshman Hannah Joerger was attending her first March for Life with the college and felt privileged to be a part of it.

“I feel very empowered to be part of the greatest human rights movement in the world,” she said. “It is encouraging to see so much love, passion and action and it is important to continue the fight for life because God has a purpose for every unique and beautiful life.”

Hogan agreed that the fight will continue, and that the fight at the state level will now become increasingly important. RRL has also been planning for the Kansas March for Life, set to take place on January 24, 2023, in Topeka, Kan.

“We pray the March will renew our zeal to come back to Kansas and continue to pray outside the abortion clinics, to sidewalk counsel, to support local pregnancy resource centers, to educate our neighbors, and to start first with the moms and babies right on our campus!” he said. “The Raven Nation is proudly and boldly prolife!”

The College was proud to lead the March in 2014 and Benedictine students have attended the March for Life since 1980. The founding of Ravens Respect Life in 1989 made the annual trip more formal and increased participation. Many of the students who led Ravens Respect Life in its early days are now leaders in the Church today, including Bishop Andrew Cozzens ’91 of the Diocese of Crookston, Minn., Abbot James Albers ’94 of St. Benedict’s Abbey, Father Joseph Taphorn ’93 from the Archdiocese of Omaha, Father Brendan Rolling ’99, former chaplain of Benedictine College, and Father Jeremy Hepler ’00, pastor of St. Benedict’s Parish.

Read more about the thriving faith life on the Benedictine College campus.

Founded in 1858, Benedictine College is a Catholic, Benedictine, residential, liberal arts college located on the bluffs above the Missouri River in Atchison, Kansas.  The school is proud to have been named one of America’s Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report as well as one of the top Catholic colleges in the nation by First Things magazine and the Newman Guide.  It prides itself on outstanding academics, extraordinary faith life, strong athletic programs, and an exceptional sense of community and belonging.  It has a mission to educate men and women within a community of faith and scholarship.

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