Fairfield University students travel to March for Life | Press Releases

Ten Fairfield University students will travel to Washington, D.C. this weekend to participate in the March for Life, joining thousands in the 33rd annual right to life event. The group will be in the nation's capitol from Saturday, Jan. 21, through Monday, Jan. 23, attending a daylong conference and Mass before joining students from Jesuit high schools, colleges and universities across the country at the Monday march.

Talia Pettini, a senior and leader of the Fairfield University Students for Life group, said Fairfield students are making their second trip to the Washington march, having cancelled last year's trip because of inclement weather.

About 200,000 people march in the annual event, held to protest the Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal on Jan. 22, 1973. The march is one of several pro-life and outreach efforts Students for Life will join this semester.

A core group of about a dozen students and an extended network of close to 50 more hold weekly meetings to discuss a host of pro-life issues and their impact on the world and people in all stages of life, Pettini said. Students for Life members also visit local shelters and are committed to campus outreach.

"We aim to view each subject from many different angles in order to educate ourselves more fully on a given topic," Pettini said.

The Rev. Terrence P. Devino, S.J., associate university chaplain at Fairfield, will accompany the students on their trip to Washington. They will stay at Georgetown University, also a Jesuit university, which will host the Cardinal O'Connor Conference on Life over the weekend. Fairfield students will attend a morning Mass at St. Aloysius Church in Washington before the march.