Students for Life of America president criticizes Catholic university’s handling of her pro-life event

Gonzaga University, a Jesuit institution in Washington, attempted to stifle students’ access to the pro-life message brought to campus April 27 by Kristan Hawkins, president of the Students for Life of America, according to statements from Hawkins. 

“From banning me from tabling on campus, from trying to screen my speech in advance, to campus ‘trigger warnings’ to locking the doors at 7:00 PM sharp [and] cutting off registration without notice, [the school administration] pulled every trick in the book to keep students away from the truth,” Hawkins wrote in a Facebook post about her experience at Gonzaga. 

The event was a part of the “Abortion is Human Sacrifice” campus tour Hawkins is leading.

However, an official with the university has also spoken about the event, defending their decisions. 

According to the Gonzaga Bulletin, Jeffery Dennison, the senior director of strategic communications at the university, said the requests the administration made, for a copy of the speech in advance and what kind of technical gear she would use, were standard. 

“As part of standard event planning, the University did ask well in advance — at least a week prior — whether she could share a copy or outline of her remarks,” Dennison told the Bulletin. “This request was not a condition of approval.”

Addressing the university’s refusal to allow Hawkins to table on campus, Dennison said, “During due‑diligence review, it was clear that her organization frequently engages in confrontational, ‘gotcha‑style’ tabling designed to provoke reactions, capture video and drive online engagement — an approach she herself referenced during her remarks.”

Dennison told the outlet, “Gonzaga did not want students unknowingly subjected to that style of engagement or filmed without their consent while simply moving through campus spaces.”

Regarding Hawkins’ locked doors concern, Michael Reamer, a campus security officer, told the Bulletin that he was letting people inside the venue after the event began, and that the doors were closed so that counter-protestors would not attempt to come inside during it. 

In her statements, Hawkins expressed concern with the tensions on campus evidenced by the attitudes of the counter-protestors. 

Hawkins wrote in an April 28 X post that the event also was the first time she had her security detail follow the SLF members to their cars after the speech.

Further emphasizing the concern of the understanding of Catholicism on campus, Hawkins explained in the Facebook post that before the speech, she went outside to speak with student protestors holding a sign that read, “Let’s Talk.” 

However, the protesters “refused to chat because we’d ‘never agree on abortion,’” Hawkins said. 

She said the protestors laughed at her when she asked what the Church and the Catechism of the Catholic Church say about abortion and “tried to tell me Gonzaga isn't Catholic; it’s ‘Jesuit,’ like that’s some separate division of the faith.”

Hawkins said she explained that the Jesuits are a religious order, not a “different branch” of Catholicism, and that all religious orders need to follow Church teaching that abortion is a sin. She said the students replied “that the Catechism simply needs to be changed.”

“This is the serious problem we have in the Church today: institutions filled with people who openly mock its teachings,” Hawkins continued. “Why would anyone go through the effort of OCIA and converting when Catholic schools allow official pro-abortion groups to laugh at the faith?”

Hawkins also reiterated her concern about the tensions on campus, saying “It was so hostile that my security team had to escort our pro-life students to their cars. These kids were genuinely worried about what their own administration might say or do to them for the ‘crime’ of hosting my pro-life speech.”

“That was likely the last time I’ll ever be invited to Gonzaga, but I said exactly what needed to be said,” she concluded. “If the administration wants to hide behind curtains and trigger warnings, they should probably find a school that doesn't have a crucifix on the wall.”