Geneva Freshmen Organize March for Life Participation

by Jennifer Gleim

On January 27 at 6 a.m. a coach bus pulled away from Geneva College carrying 50 students, staff and community members all headed to the March for Life in Washington D.C. Among those on the bus were Michael Shemer and Laura O’Neil, the two students who organized the trip.

Michael and Laura are both freshman at Geneva. Laura began classes in the fall, but Michael transferred and began attending Geneva in early January. Laura and Michael met last summer before they began attending college. As the semester began, the two friends shared information about their college experiences. “To put it simply,” said Michael, “Laura loved Geneva; I hated my school.”

While visiting Geneva with her sister Kara, Laura was impressed with the vibrant community and immediately knew she wanted to be part of it. “Geneva’s mission is a beautiful picture of how the Christian life ought to be: diligent preparation to better love God and man.”

Laura’s ardent love for Geneva inspired Michael to visit campus. At Geneva, he met with faculty, Financial Services Staff, took a tour and met some of Laura’s friends. “I was immediately impressed by their open and ready friendliness, something I never found at my school.”

Geneva’s Christian atmosphere and genuine adherence to its mission impressed Michael. After much debate and prayer, he took the step of transferring to Geneva during the Christmas break. “I’ve not looked back,” says Michael.

Within two weeks of being Geneva classmates, Michael and Laura illustrated a great love for God and others by organizing the trip to be a part of the March for Life in Washington D.C. Michael, who’d attended the March three times in the past, and Laura, eager to go for the first time, felt it was their duty as pro-life advocates to get others involved in supporting the March. Laura says, “As one of the demographic that is most affected by abortion—we are a generation dealing with pressure to have and support abortion and we are also most affected by the millions missing from our age group—it is vital for me and my fellow college students to take a stand against this unseen holocaust.”

So Michael and Laura took action.

On the first day of classes they met with the Director of the Center for Student Engagement, Randon Willard, and developed a plan to charter a bus for the trip. It was difficult for a pair of young college students to charter a bus, but “God crushed a number of barriers, and I signed a contract for a bus the following Monday,” says Shemer.

Both Michael and Laura look back, amazed, at how quickly everything came together. A mere three weeks passed between their first meeting with Randon and the March. During that time, the students raised over $2,000 to cover the cost of the bus.

Laura reflects, “More than once I felt like Moses saying, ‘God, are you sure you got the right person for this?’ and He has graciously responded by using sinful human beings like me to bring about something beautiful.” Michael adds, “With this project, we've seen miracle after miracle, barrier after barrier crushed by God.”

Michael and Laura, along with other students, staff, and community members journeyed to the nation’s capital to stand for their belief in the preciousness of every human life. Geneva is proud to support these students who followed God’s call to take a stand for what they believe in.

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