Despite weather predictions of a massive snowstorm set to hit the East Coast, 20 St. Thomas students traveled from St. Paul to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21 to participate in the March for Life scheduled for the following day.
Student trip leader Bridget Gaughan said the forecasts of a heavy snowfall did not worry her. She was confident that Minnesotans would know how to handle the snow.
“We will figure it out,” she remembered telling a student inquiring about the storm. “Worst case scenario, we will be back Monday morning [instead of Sunday night].”
When Gaughan and her students landed in Washington, D.C. that evening, she realized the gravity of the impending storm. Students for Life of America, a national anti-abortion organization, had canceled its Jan. 23 conference — one of the largest of its kind in the world, according to the group.
A conference organizer warned Gaughan that grocery stores had been emptied of necessities like food and water, all businesses were closed and the city’s public transportation system was shut down.
Washington, D.C. residents expected widespread power outages, and the city’s mayor issued a state of emergency. The organizer told Gaughan that the St. Thomas students might not be able to take a return flight to St. Paul until Jan. 27 or later.
“That was one of the hardest moments of the trip … trying to figure out what I was going to do and ultimately protect and take care of my students,” Gaughan said. “I felt such a strong sense of responsibility heading the whole thing.”
Despite the dire warnings and the potential for logistical turmoil, Gaughan said she knew everything would work out in the end.
“I felt this very deep sense of peace that God would take care of us and not just take care of us, but give us many gifts within the situation,” she said.
St. Thomas students went ahead with the trip, marching with other anti-abortion activists down the National Mall on Friday, Jan. 22.
When a Sioux Falls Diocese bus offered six extra seats to St. Thomas students desperate to make it to Minnesota for commitments on Monday, Erin Brine-Doyle, president of St. Thomas’ Students for Human Life club, volunteered to accompany the students.
But about three hours into the bus trip back, two semi-trucks fishtailed and crashed, blocking a 10-mile stretch of the Pennsylvania interstate packed with buses of students traveling back from the March for Life.
Due to the heavy snowfall – 20 inches in many places, according to the National Weather Service – the highway was at a standstill for 22 hours.
The jammed highway made international news when Iowa students organized a roadside Mass with an altar made of snow. A video of the Mass taken by a Sioux Falls student on Brine-Doyle’s bus went viral, amassing 1.5 million views by the end of the day.
Brine-Doyle said the ordeal, which could have made students stressed or worried, was met with calm.
“It was a really overwhelmingly positive experience. It was really incredible,” Brine-Doyle said. While it’s unfortunate, we were there for a reason. This was part of the pilgrimage; this was the March for Life.”
The relentless optimism and gratefulness seemed to be a theme for the other St. Thomas students traveling through the snow.
Senior Ryian Hilpisch, newly married and pregnant with her first child, said this March for Life was especially meaningful to her, even though the deep snow made it difficult to walk around the city.
“It really helped me see the grace of God and the strength you can get from perseverance,” Hilpisch said. “I knew that this was really important, and that encouraged me and helped me to keep going.”
She explains that the storm brought people together as a retreat would. The students had extra free time as they waited to return home, so they walked around the abandoned streets of Washington, D.C., played games and got to know each other better.
“It was really bonding for all of us to be together so much. There were just so many great conversations about all kinds of different things,” Hilpisch said.
Both groups of students – the six who got stranded on the Pennsylvania turnpike and the 14 who waited in Washington, D.C. until an available flight – eventually made it safely back to St. Thomas with a story to share.
“Yes, this was unexpected, yes, this seemed like chaos and disaster, but I haven’t talked to anybody who regretted going,” Brine-Doyle said. “No one said, ‘I’m never doing that again.’ We will go next year, and we will be even stronger.”
Sophie Carson can be reached at sophia.carson@stthomas.edu.
Bridget Gaughan – hero of St. Thomas :D
It is unfortunate that such a positive article was sadly tainted by the persistent use of the non-objective term “anti-abortion.” It always seems odd to me that trying to remain “neutral” involves a intrinsically negative term, “anti,” instead of universally using the positive term “pro” for both “pro-life” and “pro-choice.”
None the less, kudos to those in the club and on the trip for their great perseverance and faith!
Bridget, the term “anti-abortion” is required by the AP Style Guidelines for journalists, which TommieMedia mandates for its writers. The AP rules, apparently for political reasons, expressly reject use of the term “pro-life.” The writer was bound by her editors.
Christopher (I’m Patrick, I was claiming Bridget as a hero!) – Thank you for pointing this out to me! I should have been more careful with my previous comment. I did not mean to cast anything negative onto the writer. I apologize to the writer for any negative feelings from my comment.
So, I hope people see that my difficulty is with TommieMedia not allowing their writers to express either a neutral description of both sides of a political debate against AP’s guidelines. It seems to me that representing accurately and fairly those one is reporting about is more important than falling in line with an organization’s guidelines. It seems from my point of view (and I’m open to discussion of other views) that universally using “pro” when describing both sides, i.e. pro-life and pro-choice or pro-abortion, gives both sides an equally positive connotation.
Again, thank you Sophie for writing an inspiring, well-written article and Christopher for informing me in my ignorance!