Christendom College, a faithful Catholic institution, plans to close again to allow students and staff to attend the March for Life in Washington.
The Virginia-based college will close its doors on Monday, January 24, and its Student Activities Council will charter busses enabling the entire student body to attend the 2011 March for Life in the nation’s capital along with hundreds of thousands of pro-life Americans.
“I think it’s great that Christendom recognizes the importance of the March by closing the entire campus,” says Sophomore Jessica Inzeo. “It ensures that every student has the opportunity to participate in this national event.”
Senior Margaret Antunes agrees, and said “I don’t think any other school does this.”
Antunes added, “It is a great bonding experience for all the students as we gather under the Christendom banner in support of the pro-life message.”
Antunes says that the student body is so pro-life that even if the school did not close, they would all attend.
“It doesn’t matter,” she says. “If it’s cold and rainy, and even if the school didn’t shut down, we would all go just because of the people we are.”
Every year, Christendom cancels classes on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion on demand in the United States, and the College’s entire student body enthusiastically attends the March. In 2009, Christendom students led the March for Life, carrying the lead banner and flags.
The college has attended the March for Life as a community every year since the school was founded over 30 years ago. Its students are active in pro-life work year round, leading prayerful protests at a Planned Parenthood abortion center in Washington once a week, as well as taking part in sidewalk counseling and other pro-life activities.
Christendom College is a four-year coeducational Roman Catholic Liberal Arts College with undergraduate and graduate programs offered on three campuses in Front Royal and Alexandria, Virginia, and Rome, Italy.
In November, Christendom College’s pro-life student group, Shield of Roses, held its semi-annual “Mega Shield” event with 140 students traveling to Washington to peacefully protest their opposition to abortion at the Planned Parenthood center near the White House.
“I was really impressed to see so many of my fellow students get up on a cold Saturday morning to pray in front of one of Washington’s most notorious abortion clinics,” says Shield of Roses President John Killackey, who will be graduating this May. “It truly is a powerful witness to the culture of life on the front line of the battle against the culture of death.”
