Who is the mysterious new girl on campus? Everyone’s seen her around. Maybe you saw her in the cafeteria, or in the halls of your dorm. Maybe you saw her hanging out in the student center. But just who is she? Who is the mysterious Baby Lucy?
Baby Lucy is a new project by Vita, Quinnipiac’s new pro-life organization. Through a weekly series of real ultrasound images of a growing baby, students can learn about the process of human development. The goal of the project, in the words of the group’s educational coordinator Liz Rider, is to help students “realize that a baby is a human being from the moment of conception, and should therefore be treated as such.” The Baby Lucy project will culminate with a baby shower where students can donate baby items to a local crisis pregnancy center.
Like Baby Lucy, Vita is an organization currently in its infancy. It was formed from an unofficial gathering of students in the 2004-2005 school year, and gained official recognition from the university in September 2005. Vita, whose name comes from the Latin for “life,” is a student-run organization committed to promoting the value and sanctity of human life. The club’s goals are twofold: to educate the campus community about life issues such as abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, and stem cell research, and to reach out to the community through service work with women’s shelters and crisis pregnancy centers.
Vita believes strongly in the concept of educating the campus community on the important issues it deals with. They operate an educational outreach to distribute literature and host events and speakers relevant to the discussion and propagation of information relating to the life issues that face many of us today and are prevalent in the news headlines.
“The real abortion education we would like to provide is to show women all of the options that are out there for them in the event of an unplanned pregnancy,” Rider said. “We believe that by raising awareness of the abortion alternatives and the resources available, we provide women with a real choice.”
Vita welcomes all students to its meetings and discussions, regardless of religious beliefs or personal values and opinions on the topics at hand. They meet every Monday at 8 p.m. in SC209. They also have many events planned for the remainder of the school year, including a Mothers’ Day rose sale to benefit Birthright of Hamden, a “Walk for Life” fundraising walkathon during May Weekend, and many speakers and special events to help reach out to the campus community to educate and assist the student body.
Students interested in learning more about the group are urged to attend one of the weekly meetings, or to contact the group’s president, Lindsay Neumann, at her university e-mail address.
