About 10 members of the Lehigh chapter of Students for Life gathered outside the main entrance of Fairchild-Martindale Library at 7 p.m. Tuesday to write messages for National Pro-Life Chalk Day, drawing mixed reactions from the student body.
According to Students for Life of America, the goal of the nationwide event is to “defund and debar Planned Parenthood.”
Members of the organization wrote messages including, “Jesus loves you,” “Women deserve better than abortion,” “Lehigh is pro-life” and “Defund Planned Parenthood.”
One member wrote the opening lyrics to Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” in front of the library doors.
Rhema Hooper, ‘26, the co-president of Students for Life, is studying community and global health with a minor in molecular biology. She said she’d been pro-choice for most of her life until she came across an Instagram post from a feminist magazine showing what appeared to be a pregnancy at 10 weeks, which caused her to reconsider her beliefs.
Hooper said she later realized the image posted was of uterine tissue, not a fetus, and shared her observation on Instagram, prompting backlash from followers.
She said as she was learning more about fetal development, Hooper saw a recommended ultrasound video on Youtube and clicked on it.
“As soon as I watched that, it was like a rush hit my heart,” Hooper said.
She said that moment solidified her pro-life beliefs.
Hooper joined Students for Life in 2023. As co-president, she said her goal is to foster dialogue between people who identify as pro-life and those who are pro-choice.
“I was pro-choice and I know what that’s like,” she said. “I want to be able to have dialogue with people so that we can actually talk about it because a lot of people don’t want to talk about (abortion).”
Hooper said the chalking event was approved by Lehigh.
In an email sent to The Office of the General Counsel obtained by The Brown and White, Katherine Lavinder, the vice president of student affairs, confirmed the event complied with Lehigh’s posting policies, which states that only university departments, organizations and community members may place postings on designated, approved spaces.
According to the Office of Student Affairs, chalking falls under the university posting policy. Sidewalk chalk is permitted only on outdoor sidewalks and roads. Organizations must complete a form 24 hours before a chalking event, and all messages are subject to removal 24 hours after the event ends.
Angel Castañeda, ‘27, the co-president of Students for Life, said the event was held because Lehigh isn’t a very politically involved campus.
“We’re trying to get people to understand the horror and danger of abortion,” Castañeda said.
He also said while the messages included religious imagery such as the Virgin Mary and the phrase “We are all children of God,” the club isn’t affiliated with any particular religion or denomination.
About halfway through the event, students unaffiliated with Students for Life began gathering to discuss the messages.
Max Nussbaum, ‘27, said he was heading to the library to do some work when he was surprised by the messages he saw.
He said he believed the messaging was inappropriate to be front and center as people entered the library.
Nussbaum said if the organization wants to promote its beliefs it shouldn’t be banned from doing so, but he questioned whether the library was the right place for it.
“I don’t have a lot of work tonight, but if I was somebody who had a deep emotional connection to this issue and I did have a lot of work tonight, I could see this being a problem,” Nussbaum said.
Phoebe Barnes, ‘28, said the chalk messages made her laugh and that she found them confusing and shocking.
She said the message “Defund Planned Parenthood” particularly stood out to her, and that it seemed as if Students for Life “doesn’t understand a lot of what Planned Parenthood does.”
“I’m not sure if they’re just against abortion or support systems for women, but when you say ‘Defund Planned Parenthood’ it affects so much more than just abortion, and it seems like they don’t quite realize that, or if they do they don’t (care),” Barnes said.
Barnes also said the messaging made it seem as though the decision to get an abortion is an easy one, when in reality many women don’t have the privilege to do family planning.
The event ended around 8:00 p.m. At 8:18 p.m., a Lehigh University Police Department officer arrived at the library and began taking photos of the chalk messages. When asked for an interview with The Brown and White, the officer declined and said he can’t comment because the photos are part of an ongoing investigation.