Newman Guide education is key to building a nation that is pro-life, pro-family, and pro-religious freedom. Faithful educators are preparing the next generation of pro-life leaders for our country. Here are just a few:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Jason Evert<\/strong> More than one million people on six continents have heard about the virtue of chastity, because of the Chastity Project, led by Jason and Crystalina Evert.<\/p>\n The catalyst for the entire ministry?\u00a0Jason\u2019s experience at a Newman Guide college.<\/p>\n \u201cFranciscan University of Steubenville prepared me for the ministry God entrusted us with and opened the doors for the ministry to become possible,\u201d says Evert.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know where I\u2019d be today, or if our ministry would even exist, if I hadn\u2019t attended Franciscan University,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n The Chastity Project is all about helping young people see that \u201cchastity is the virtue that frees us to love.\u201d\u00a0The Project educates young people about the truth of human sexuality and tackles topics like dating, birth control, homosexuality and pornography.<\/p>\n Evert and his wife have given more than 3,000 talks to high school and college students about the virtue of chastity, but he still remembers his first talk, during a spring break mission trip in college. After that, one thing was clear: \u201cI knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life,\u201d says Evert.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Katie Short, Esq. <\/strong> Katie Short and her husband Bill graduated from Thomas Aquinas College in Santa \u00a0Paula, Calif., in 1980. A homeschooling mother of nine children, Katie earned her law degree from U.C. Berkeley and has used her legal expertise to advance the pro-life cause. She has defended the rights of pro-life activists, including sidewalk counselors, and most recently defended David Daleiden of the Center for Medical Progress, who worked to expose illegal practices at Planned Parenthood.<\/p>\n When asked about how her TAC education prepared her for her work at Life Legal, Short responded, \u201cIt\u2019s a no-brainer to say that four years arguing with one\u2019s fellow students in the seminar-style classes at TAC is a great preparation for the legal profession.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut practicing law in the pro-life field brings its own set of challenges,\u201d Short continued. \u201cIn most jurisdictions, one has to be prepared to lose not just the losing cases, or the iffy cases, but cases where the court has to contort well-established law to rule against the pro-life side. As for getting fair rulings on evidence, the backdrop of every pro-life free speech case is that \u2018everybody knows\u2019 that anti-abortion advocates are dangerous zealots out to terrorize abortion providers and their patients. Needless to say, this sharply tilted playing field can lead to discouragement, for which the surest remedy is the reflection that the justice of this world is not the final word.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Jennie Bradley Lichter Jennie Lichter was a pro-life leader at Newman Guide Recommended college and now is the head of the March for Life organization, which draws tens of thousands of pro-lifers every year to Washington, D.C., to stand against abortion.<\/p>\n While serving as Deputy General Counsel at The Catholic University of America, Lichter founded and led the Guadalupe Project, an initiative to \u201cgo all-in on being pro-life,\u201d explained Lichter. Catholic University is the \u201cliteral and figurative home\u201d to thousands of people and the Guadalupe Project is a \u201cset of initiatives to serve everyone who is building a family\u201d at the University, including faculty, staff and students. These initiatives include extending paid parental leave, creating parking spaces for expectant mothers, sending gift boxes to faculty and staff members who welcomed a new child, and adding stickers in women\u2019s bathroom stalls about the University\u2019s pregnancy resources.<\/p>\n \u201cCatholic education is preparing students to pursue a life of virtue and to live for the Lord throughout their lives, and for many students, that means in family life,\u201d says Lichter. \u201cAnd so, I think any formation that can be provided around family life is an incredible contribution that Catholic schools can and do make.\u201d She also encourages Catholic schools and colleges to \u201ccontinue bringing your students to the March for Life\u201d because \u201cthat experience itself can be so deeply formative\u2014as it was for me after attending my first March for Life as a college student!\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Clare Donohue Clare Donohue\u2019s pro-life beliefs were \u201cnurtured from a young age\u201d but \u201cbecame her own\u201d through Newman Guide education. Now she shares the pro-life message with others through her work at the National Catholic Bioethics Center.<\/p>\n \u201cMy experience studying at Belmont Abbey as a member of the Honors College and at the University of Mary in the Bioethics Master\u2019s program has encouraged me to approach life with a sense of wonder and curiosity at the orderly beauty of God\u2019s creation,\u201d says Donohue. \u201cThe beauty of the Abbey, the presence of the monks, the exceptional curriculum, and the excellent professors have guaranteed that I remain a student for life and will always see the opportunity to learn as what it is: a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe right to life is the most basic and fundamental right upon which all others are built and introducing uncertainty as to whether some individuals possess it in full or at all leads to abuse of human life and dignity,\u201d she argues.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Katie Portka<\/strong> Katie Portka credits her faithful Catholic education at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, with strengthening her pro-life convictions. Portka learned about Benedictine through\u00a0The Newman Guide, and then, while a senior in high school, saw the College\u2019s students carrying the banner at the head of the March for Life.<\/p>\n \u201cI loved how energetic they were \u2014 this huge group of young adults who were so full of life and passionate,\u201d says Portka. She had been involved in pro-life efforts with her family, but she didn\u2019t often see large groups of young people standing for life as a high school student. Shortly after the March for Life, Portka signed her acceptance letter to attend Benedictine.<\/p>\n On campus, Portka immediately got involved in the large Respect Life Ravens Group. \u201cThe school at large was a very pro-life campus,\u201d she says, \u201cin the dorms, in classes, and in the faculty.\u201d<\/p>\n Benedictine \u201creally did embody the Church\u2019s teaching on life and the dignity and sanctity of life,\u201d says Portka. \u201cIn college was when I realized why I was pro-life and why I wanted to be pro-life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Sister Mariae Agnus Dei <\/strong> Sister Mariae Agnus Dei of the\u00a0Sisters of Life\u00a0is one of many religious sisters whose vocation was nourished by Newman Guide education.<\/p>\n Founded in 1991, the Sisters of Life now have more than 100 sisters serving across the country and in Canada. The sisters take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, plus a special vow to \u201cprotect and enhance the sacredness of every human life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo those discerning colleges, all I can say is you will never regret choosing a place that is invested in forming, supporting and flourishing every dimension of your life \u2014 mind, body, heart and soul,\u201d said Sr. Mariae Agnus Dei.<\/p>\n \u201cThe years you spend at college, the people you encounter, the culture in which you immerse yourself, will inevitably lay a foundation for the rest of your life. In choosing an authentically Catholic college, you will be on course to live the good life you desire and become who you were made to be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Timmerie Geagea Timmerie attended John Paul the Great Catholic University in Escondido, Calif., which is recommended in\u00a0The Newman Guide,\u00a0where she \u201cfell in love with studying theology\u201d and also had the unique opportunity to \u201cfuse together communications, philosophy and theology.\u201d She credits her faithful Catholic education with helping prepare her for her ministry and for her life, including her marriage to a fellow alumnus.<\/p>\n \u201cClose proximity to the sacraments, my formation in theology, and my education in business and communications equipped me not only for my apostolate but most importantly for a life oriented toward the Cross of Christ,\u201d says Timmerie about her undergraduate years at JPCatholic. \u201cI sharpened my tools of communication, and I learned to appeal to the deepest desires of the human heart \u2014 authentic love and, ultimately, God.\u201d<\/p>\n On her radio show,\u00a0Trending with Timmerie<\/em>, which is nationally syndicated, she discusses topics such as gender identity, abortion and pornography. She believes that it\u2019s important to tackle controversial topics, especially those related to human sexuality.<\/p>\n \u201cSociety is parched for relationships that express authentic love and ultimately the sacrificial love of Christ,\u201d Timmerie explains. \u201cOur culture and the breakdown of the family doesn\u2019t prepare people for sacrificial love anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Newman Guide education is key to building a nation that is pro-life, pro-family, and pro-religious freedom. Faithful educators are preparing the next generation of pro-life leaders for our country. Here are just a few: \u00a0 Jason Evert Founder of Chastity Project Graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville More than one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10636,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"issue":[],"item_type":[],"coauthors":[59],"class_list":["post-10635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nFounder of Chastity Project
\nGraduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nVice President Legal Affairs<\/strong>
\nLife Legal Defense Foundation
\nGraduate of Thomas Aquinas College<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nPresident of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund
\nFormer Deputy General Counsel and founder of the Guadalupe Project, a pro-life initiative, at The Catholic University of America<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nDevelopment Associate at the National Catholic Bioethics Center
\nGraduate of Belmont Abbey College (undergrad) and the University of Mary\u2019s Master of Science in Bioethics Program<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nDatabase Specialist at Students for Life of America<\/strong>
\nGraduate of Benedictine College<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nSisters of Life
\nGraduate of The Catholic University of America <\/strong><\/p>\n
\nHost of Trending with Timmerie on Relevant Radio
\nGraduate of John Paul the Great Catholic University<\/strong><\/p>\n