Newman Guide Pro-Life Programs

K-12

The faithful Catholic elementary and secondary schools recommended in The Newman Guide are proudly pro-life. These schools integrate faith and science, teach students to think critically, and help deepen their understanding of God, creation, and life. The Newman Guide champions these schools and spreads the word about them to Catholic families across the country.

Here are just some of the ways Newman Guide Recommended schools live out their pro-life witness, from organizing diaper drives for moms in need to offering scholarships to large Catholic families to attend their school.

Students and families of Holy Rosary Academy in Anchorage, Alaska, prayed at the closing Mass of 40 Days for Life outside of a Planned Parenthood facility in the snow.

Gio Moceri (below, left) is a junior at Holy Rosary Academy and is one of the founders and current vice president of the School’s Students for Life chapter. The club has offered remarks at pro-life events and participated in last year’s first March for Life in Alaska.

The pro-life club at Holy Rosary Academy also hosted a “Rosary Walk and Chalk” event to leave positive pro-life messages on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood.

    

 

St. Monica Academy in Montrose, Calif., collected donations and supplies for a local pregnancy clinic for this year’s Advent service project. The Academy also has an active pro-life club that attends a pro-life summer camp, prays in front of abortion clinics, and attends Walks for Life.

 

At Saint Rita Catholic School in Alexandria, Va., new life is celebrated! When Saint Rita families welcome a new child, an announcement is included in the school’s weekly newsletter and the child is given an adorable Saint Rita School onesie. The school also offers a significant tuition discount to second and third children, and children from the fourth onwards are provided with full tuition coverage.

   

 

St. Joseph Catholic School in Greenville, S.C., typically takes 50-70 students to the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Students from St. Joseph’s also attend the South Carolina March for Life and the South Carolina Student Life Summit. The school’s pro-life group is called the Knights for Life, as evidenced by the winter hats!

 

Knights for Life also started a project called “Our Best for the Babies.” Students use their talents and passions to create life-centered items to share with customers. As students “pitch” their items, they also hone their confidence and skills at “pitching” the preciousness of every life. One of the creations is “Paper People”; participants create their own individual, unique paper person, just like every baby from the moment of conception.

 

Regina Pacis Academy in Norwalk, Conn., has a book section in its library that is dedicated to pro-life literature. There are many books about babies and children becoming big brothers or big sisters and books that show the science and beauty behind the pro-life message.

“Our students witness every day the fact that we provide creative ways for our teachers and staff to work at the school with their children close by,” said Janice Martinez, principal of Holy Child Catholic School in Tijeras, N.M. “Holy Child Catholic School is not only committed to being pro-life but also wishes to recognize and affirm the feminine genius. This has led to an unprecedented collaboration whereby volunteers, staff and teachers are united in their commitment to help each mother faithfully live out her primary and secondary vocations without sacrificing the precious bond of closeness with her own children. Such a commitment requires joyful creativity and no day looks the same as the next!”

 

At The Lyceum in South Euclid, Ohio, students pray daily as a school community for the unborn in danger of abortion that day, that God will send His holy angels to protect them.

 

Everest Collegiate High School and Academy in Clarkston, Mich., uses the excellent Ruah Woods Theology of the Body/Christian Anthropology program to provide a pro-life education. The Cardinal Newman Society teamed up with Ruah Woods to develop Standards of Christian Anthropology which align with Ruah Wood’s curriculum.

 

Colleges

For decades, radical pro-abortion feminism has dominated higher education. But at the 27 colleges recommended in The Newman Guide for their strong Catholic identity, students find a much healthier respect for the dignity of women, men and children. Here are just a few examples of how Newman Guide Recommended colleges are pro-life:

Ave Maria University

At Ave Maria University, students pray for an end to abortion outside the local Planned Parenthood once a week in addition to attending the annual March for Life and helping host the local March for Life in Southwest Florida.

The university also sponsors the Jon Scharfenberger scholarship for Catholic pro-life leaders attending the university. The scholarship was created in honor of a 2011 AMU graduate who passed away in a tragic car accident a year following graduation while on his way home from a pro-life event. As reported in Ave Maria’s magazine, while attending the university, he volunteered frequently at a local pregnancy center without anyone else knowing — and he didn’t even have a car to get there, which increased the wonder of how he was able to do so. Such a scholarship holds up Jon’s life as a witness to the importance of pro-life work for every student who attends Ave Maria.

Finally, recognizing that being pro-life extends to all stages of life, student initiatives provide babysitting for fellow students and staff/faculty so they can attend classes, work, and complete their degrees, and spend time weekly visiting the elderly in the community.

 

Belmont Abbey College

Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C., is home to an innovative pro-life initiative: a residence named MiraVia for pregnant college students, which draws women from across the country. MiraVia not only provides free room and board but also all the help that expectant moms may need to continue pursuing their educational goals, such as childcare, life skills classes, and material assistance.

“The unique partnership between Belmont Abbey and MiraVia required a leap of faith for both organizations,” says Debbie Capen, executive director of MiraVia, which opened in 2013. “It began with a shared vision to make abortion unthinkable for college students who face unplanned pregnancies, and the results have exceeded our wildest expectations.” MiraVia has housed dozens of residents over the past 12 years, providing loving support and guidance to help them pursue their dreams.

“We have seen that there are countless benefits to creating maternity housing on campus for both our clients and the broader community,” explains Capen. “Not only do our clients receive the support they need to continue their pregnancies and their education, but the student body and community see the beauty of choosing life.”

Students from the college volunteer at MiraVia to help with childcare and other projects around the residence.

 

Benedictine College

Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., will be playing no small part in the future of pro-life medical professionals. Benedictine College announced that it plans to establish a new, independent medical school that “understands the essential role of faith and morality in the sciences.”

In the meantime, Benedictine is already contributing to forming pro-life medical professionals through its biology, pre-med, and nursing majors. The nursing program is housed in the Mother Teresa Center for Nursing and Health Education, and the College promised Mother Teresa’s order, the Sisters of the Poor, that Benedictine would remain committed to being a pro-life nursing school. Nursing students take courses on bioethics and on fertility-based awareness/natural family planning. The Nursing School has an annual White Mass for Nursing students, a student-led Bible study, guest speakers on pro-life issues, and is planning an annual retreat.

 

Christendom College

The faithful Catholic colleges recommended in The Newman Guide are always well-represented at the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. Students, presidents, faculty and staff members from these institutions peacefully march and pray for an end to abortion in our country.

Christendom College in Front Royal, Va., sets an impressive pro-life example. Christendom College has canceled classes every year since its founding in 1977 so that its entire student body can attend the March for Life.  Christendom has also been chosen to lead the March for Life five times—in 1984, 1997, 2009, 2012, and 2022.

 

Franciscan University of Steubenville

Foundational to a pro-life college is providing a pro-life education: one that teaches the truth about man, woman, and human sexuality. Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio, is establishing an Institute for the Study of Man and Woman. This institute will undertake an interdisciplinary investigation into the nature of man and woman through philosophy, theology, neuroscience, biology, psychology, sociology, and family studies. The hope is to recover a “common understanding of the gifts of both man and woman,” explains Dr. Deborah Savage, a professor of theology and director of the new institute.

“The foundations of a truly human society are grounded in a coherent understanding of the person and a recognition of the central place the family has in building it,” Dr. Savage continued. “And so there is no way to recover our culture without reinforcing and expanding our grasp of who we are as embodied creatures made for relationship.”

“So much attention has been focused on women’s issues over the last decades, we have forgotten about the men! And in many ways, men and boys are struggling in our culture,” Dr. Savage explained. “So, in a very real sense, this is an effort to bring balance to the rather one-sided investigation that has been underway for years, one that arguably has only served to confuse God’s plan for the collaboration of man and woman as they work together to fulfill their mission.”

The institute will “sustain a public conversation” about issues surrounding the nature and gifts of men and women and will involve curricula and educational activities for Franciscan University students.

 

University of St. Thomas (Houston)

The University of St. Thomas in Houston, Tex., is offering a new graduate degree in Catholic Women’s and Gender Studies. While too many colleges offer degrees in gender studies that do not uphold the Catholic understanding of the human person, the program at the University of St. Thomas is a refreshing new option.

“Gender is today’s hottest issue, causing division and widespread confusion about one of the most fundamental aspects of human life – what it means to be man or woman,” the University argues. The graduate program at the University of St. Thomas will offer the “riches of Church tradition and an authentically Catholic philosophy and theology of the human person.”

 

University of Mary

In 2023, the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., launched the beautiful St. Teresa of Calcutta Community for Mothers to provide single mothers with affordable housing, education, and trained, volunteer childcare sufficient for them to complete their degree.  Thanks to the generosity of benefactors, seven mothers have been served through the St. Teresa of Calcutta Community.

“The University of Mary was founded to meet the needs of the people in our region and beyond, and it is in and through our mission that we, as a Catholic institution, are striving to emulate the love of Christ,” explained Tom Ackerman, media relations specialist at the University of Mary. “Christ comes into our lives and desires to meet us where we are most needy, alone, and helpless. Likewise, we desire to meet our single mothers in the joy of new life, but also in the difficulty of raising a child on their own.”

The first mother to join the program was Katie (Chihoski) O’Meara, who graduated from the University of Mary in Spring 2023.

“As a new young mother, I was understandably afraid and unable to picture what would happen next. During my time abroad at the University of Mary’s Rome Campus, I had to decide what would be the best for my sweet little baby. All I could hear were the voices of the world who made a surprise pregnancy seem like the start of a dull and stagnant life,” explained O’Meara.

 

 

“Amid the chaos in my head, new voices entered my life,” she continued. “The residence directors who lived with me in Rome, as well as our chaplains, seminarian friends, and classmates. These voices told me things about myself and God that I had never heard before. They helped me to hear God’s voice in the chaos giving me the strength to do things I didn’t know were possible. These people encouraged me to not only return to college but to work hard to find joy in this new life.”

“One unique thing about UMary is how much the students and staff adore babies — and life. I never felt like I was intruding on an event or Mass because I had a chatty baby,” O’Meara continued. “One of the ways I saw the community’s obvious love for babies was the number of students who volunteered to watch our children when the mothers had class. New students were reaching out to us every week wanting to get involved and do what they could to make our days a little easier!”

“It needs to be said that I would not have been able to continue college while providing for my new baby if it weren’t for the financial help I received through the university’s St. Teresa of Calcutta Community for Mother’s scholarship,” O’Meara reflected. “The UMary community always gave us the belief that Lucia brought light to the campus. The joy she brought to campus definitely fits her name, Lucia, meaning ‘light.’”

O’Meara is now married to a former classmate and fellow University of Mary alum. She works as a hospital social worker in Minnesota and says she speaks “very highly of the University of Mary and the people who have made this program what it is.”