This week, the first week of classes for Notre Dame, campus has been full of high pitched hugs and gruff handshakes, comparing schedules and scathing-yet-hasty reviews of new professors. And yet, amidst all the revelry, there runs an unacknowledged tension. The first weekend of school this year has more scheduled than syllabus week shenanigans. This weekend, both the March for Life and the Women’s March are taking place in Washington, D.C.
Because Notre Dame is a predominately Catholic school, student interest in the March for Life has always been high. The Center for Ethics and Culture sponsors this trip, primarily paying for buses and hotel rooms. During the course of this trip, students attend the March for Life, a reception and a mass. Although many students do feel extremely passionate about the March itself, there are many students who admit that a weekend trip to Washington, D.C with friends is also a big draw of the event.
The first inaugural Women’s March took place in January 2017, so it is understandable that this year is the first year that a Notre Dame student club has sponsored a bus specifically for the Women’s March. This weekend, one bus with a capacity of 55 students is traveling to D.C in order to attend the Women’s March. Although this is a very small amount of students in comparison to the amount heading to the March for Life, the wait list for the singular Women’s March bus was over 200 people long. It’s safe to say that interest in the Women’s March is also substantial across campus.
Two buses are leaving Notre Dame this weekend, heading for the same city, both filled with passionate students supporting seemingly opposed causes. Although there is nothing explicit that should divide supporters of both marches, the March for Life’s traditional tie to conservative Pro-Life politics and the Women’s March tie to liberal Pro-Choice politics place the marches in sharp contrast with one another. This week, an undeniable yet unspoken tension ran between those attending the March for Life and those attending (or wishing they could attend!) the Women’s March.
My friend group experienced this tension in a microcosm. The topic of abortion (and even more generally, women’s rights) is a tense one no matter who it comes up in conversation with. It’s even more treacherous in the environment of strong religious belief and personal conviction. Although I have deep, deep love for my friends, it has been especially hard to navigate my relationships with many of them this week. In a conversation where both sides believe with complete conviction that their position is correct, often there is no benefit in trying to persuade the other person that they are wrong. A conversation like this will only end in frustration and possibly in ad hominem attacks.
I’ve found that it’s easier for me to support my friends by supporting their passion even if I don’t support their position. For me, I passionately believe in a woman’s right to govern her own body and to be treated as a complete societal and political equal to men. For my friends, their passion for their position is just as fervent as mine. I respect that they are willing to demonstrate for what they think is right and that they are intelligent women themselves with valid and reasonable opinions. Even if I don’t agree with their position in many contentious issues, I am proud that I know women who are not afraid to tell people what they think and demand what they consider to be right. In this way (and in so many other ways), I consider myself lucky to be surrounded by such inspiring women. I truly believe that all anyone can do is follow their own consciences and I admire my friends who are going to the March for Life for doing just that. In return, I am confident that, in a similar way, they respect my passion and ability to intelligently form an opinion, even if it is in a different direction.
If your friend group is grappling with a similar tension this week, I highly suggest taking an approach of mutual respect. Try to respect your friends’ passions regardless of their positions. With that being said, however, hold fast to the things that you know to be true and never compromise in order to keep the peace or in order to fit into a group. As both groups of supporters head to D.C this weekend, remember that there are students on this campus who hold similar convictions as you (on both sides!) so don’t be afraid to seek them out in the future.