A Benedictine university in North Dakota is offering help for students with children and those who are expecting.
In an article for KFRYTV, Jerome Richter, the executive vice president and chief of staff at the University of Mary, stated: "We’re providing them community. They have a stable home and environment for them and their child. They will be loved and supported, but they also have to do their part."
According to Richter, a family has offered financial aid in the form of scholarships for those who've had a baby or are in a crisis pregnancy. These students will be given free room and board, as well as childcare.
However, the program offers so much more than financial help. The Mission for Life program coordinator, Maggie Popp, explained how the program will encourage other students to be proactive in supporting life.
The university is "inviting students who really love kids and love babies to come and volunteer and provide daycare for these women so they can go to class and not worry about where their children are at and who’s taking care of them."
While the State of North Dakota is still waiting for the decision on a law that will make abortion illegal statewide, the university wants to "practice what they preach."
As Popp points out: “If we want to say, ‘You shouldn’t have an abortion,’ then we need to support them as best we can."
While the scheme is still being fine-tuned, "what we do know is it’s the right thing to do, we’re going to do it, and we’ll see where it goes from there," shared Richter.
He also pointed out that even if the university received five applications, then it's a step in the right direction. Yet after the plan was revealed during a Mass recently, one woman already started the procedure to sign up.
Hopefully other universities will be inspired by the University of Mary's example, and allow women to choose life and get an education, knowing they will be cared for.
