Larissa York, now a senior and president of Cardinals for Life at The Catholic University of America in Washington, has long had a passion for supporting mothers and children. As a college sophomore, she started researching how universities supported pregnant and parenting students. A few months later, around the time the Supreme Court of the United States overturned a constitutional right to abortion in 2022, her research paid off.
Then-President John Garvey asked Jennie Bradley Lichter, deputy general counsel, to identify how the university could better support pregnant and parenting mothers. She started by forming a campuswide committee that would identify “how might we lead with love in our response to this watershed decision,” said Lichter.
The outcome of the committee’s work is the Guadalupe Project, which was launched a year ago by university President Peter Kilpatrick. He embraced the committee’s recommendations as “aimed at enhancing the environment of radical accompaniment and support on campus for pregnant and parenting members of our Catholic University community.”
In just one year, the impact of the Guadalupe Project can be felt across campus, from new “expectant mother” parking spaces to additional diaper-changing stations, and maternity clothing now stocked in the on-campus clothing exchange, Cardinal Closet. One of the most significant policy changes has been the expansion of paid family leave for staff from eight to 12 weeks.
“To be truly ‘pro-life’ means not just opposing abortion — but caring for all of the moms, dads and babies in our midst,” Lichter said. She said the committee she chaired focused on assessing three areas: university policy, changes needed to campus facilities and campus culture.
Driving the recommendations now being implemented was the university’s commitment that “no pregnant mother — and no expectant father — on our campus should feel alone, and none will be alone if they allow the university to walk with them through this season.”
A pregnancy resource guide was updated and placed online. QR codes now posted in university bathrooms and on posters, plus a dedicated website, parenting.catholic.edu, provide access to resources such as counseling, student life, medical care and spiritual support.
Through a partnership with the nearby St. Ann’s Center for Children, Youth and Families, staff and students can pick up free diapers, wipes, and other baby hygiene products at the Cardinal Cupboard food pantry, which also stocks nonperishable food, and fresh produce from the university’s community garden.
Caitlin Wilson, who manages Cardinal Cupboard, said over the past year “the Cupboard has received four donations from St. Ann’s totaling 585 pounds. We have seen an increase in demand beginning from the first baby items offered last October, and especially throughout this summer.”
She said regular customers include staff and an increasing number of graduate students.
The university’s partnership with St. Ann’s is a two-way street. University students volunteer with St. Ann’s through recurring and one-time projects to help the nonprofit in its mission of lifting women and children out of poverty. Last December, the university named St. Ann’s as the beneficiary of its annual Christmas charity concert.
Academic classes also are involved in the university’s effort to support new mothers. Students in a spring 2023 architecture studio class led by Patricia Andrasik, associate professor of architecture, designed buildings to meet the needs of women in crisis pregnancies. The students presented their projects not only to professional architects, but also to members of the Sisters of Life. This fall, a fashion marketing class in the Busch School of Business is partnering with Cardinal Closet to develop a marketing plan for its second maternity clothing drive, planned for January 2024.
The student group Cardinals for Life has pitched in, offering short-term babysitting for parenting students as well as professors with a childcare gap during class times. Last spring, the group hosted a baby shower for a pregnant student. The university also surprises newly parenting faculty and staff with “swag” bags of practical items and university gear.
Lichter says this is not a short-term response, but “is an ongoing effort, inspired by the priority the church places on family life and the dignity of every human person, to make Catholic University a supportive and welcoming place for every parent who works or studies on our campus, and for their children.”
Gibbs works in communications at Catholic University in Washington.
