Second Annual Pro-Life Campus Activism Winners Announced

For Immediate Release

Minneapolis, MN – May 3, 2010 – Human Life Alliance (HLA) and Students for Life of America (SFLA) announce the winners of the second annual Campus Impact Award.

Designed to encourage students to develop pro-life activism on campus, this year’s award winners include clubs that sponsored a major first time event and two unique African American student outreach projects.

“It was difficult to select a winner this year,” stated HLA Executive Director Jo Tolck. “Student clubs from around the country worked on a variety of projects—many faced great opposition. We’re proud of each and every one of them.”

First Place: Northeastern University Right to Life (Boston, Massachusetts). This newly created pro-life club hosted its first “Respect Life Week” on campus. Among the many events designed to generate campus wide discussion of life issues were a memorial of innocents, pro-life pamphlet distribution, tabling and fetal model displays.

Second Place: Students for Life at Clarion University (Clarion, Pennsylvania). Creation of a campus collation designed to explore the impact of abortion on the African American community was the main outreach. Co-sponsoring organizations included Minority Students Services, Brothers of Christ and the local NAACP chapter. HLA’s “Did You Know?” publication was distributed to create an early demand for information, which culminated in a screening and discussion of the pro-life documentary “Maafa21.”

Third Place: Dukes for Life at James Madison University (Harrison, Virginia). A unique approach to communications and advertisement allowed Dukes for Life to develop a pro-life Facebook event for their campus. Students used HLA materials to create pro-life campus bulletin boards and posters to co-sponsor an event with the Student Black Alliance to focus on the genocidal consequences of abortion in the African American community.

SFLA Executive Director Kristan Hawkins said, “These students for life clubs have worked hard to present a pro-life message on campus. In many cases they must stand up to classmates and professors who ridicule them and belittle their deeply held belief that all life is worth protecting, including life in the womb.”

Winners received cash prizes of $500, $250 and $250, respectively, to develop ongoing pro-life efforts on campuses.

More information about Human Life Alliance is available at www.humanlife.org or by calling (651) 484-1040. Students for Life of America can be reached at (703) 351-6280 or on the web at www.studentsforlife.org.

CONTACT: Joe Langfeld

EMAIL: jlangfeld@humanlife.org

PHONE: 651.484.1040

Second Annual Pro-life Campus Activism Contest Set for February and March

For Immediate Release

Minneapolis, MN – January 25, 2010 – Human Life Alliance (HLA) and Students for Life of America (SFLA) announce the second annual Campus Impact Award challenge which offers $1,000 in prizes to student clubs that promote pro-life activism during the months of February and March.

The Award encourages students to act upon their pro-life beliefs after the March for Life and other walks fuels their spark of enthusiasm. Tens of thousands of young people turn out for these local and national events.

“We’re asking students to step up and be a catalyst for pro-life action on their campus,” said HLA Deputy Director Joe Langfeld. “When young people return from these powerful events, they’re inspired to stand up for life. The Impact Award helps young people show their peers that pro-life values are alive and well on campus.”

Ideas for student projects include distributing pro-life literature on campus, poster campaigns, leafleting at basketball games, tabling in the student union and more. Three cash prizes of $500, $250 and $250 will be awarded to the top three clubs who succeed in producing creative and broad reaching educational efforts.

Kristan Hawkins, SFLA Executive Director, stated, “This is just the type of encouragement students need to cultivate a pro-life presence on campus. In turn, the new opportunities developed through the challenge will launch pro-life clubs to a whole new level of activism.”

The 2009 Campus Impact Award winners were Purdue Students for Life (1st place), University of New Mexico Students for Life (2nd place) and the Carnegie Mellon University Respect Life Club (3rd place). Each club used unique opportunities on campus to present a dynamic pro-life message. University of New Mexico Students for Life increased their club size 70% as a result of their Campus Impact project.

Students are encouraged to contact Human Life Alliance or Students for Life of American to receive a copy of the official rules. The contest begins February 1st and runs through March 31, 2010. Contestants must document their “Campus Impact” project and submit presentation information for final judging by midnight of March 31st. YouTube videos, digital photos and emailed reports will be accepted.

CONTACT: Joe Langfeld

EMAIL: jlangfeld@humanlife.org

PHONE: 651.484.1040

College Newspaper Editors Reject “Go Green” Themed Advertising Supplement

For Immediate Release

Minneapolis, MN – October 7, 2009 - Two students newspapers in Wisconsin refuse to run an advertising supplement published by Minnesota-based Human Life Alliance (HLA). The pro-life advertising supplement, entitled “icare…”, employs an environmental theme to explore the impact of abortion on students in the United States.

Both the UW-Oshkosh “Advance Titan” and the UW-Stevens Point “Pointer” have refused to run the educational supplement.

The “Pointer” stated, “We have a policy against advertising topics which have a tendency to cause conflict, shame or controversy among the student body.” The “Advance Titan” gave the following reason for refusing the advertising, “While we don't necessarily disagree with the message that you wish to promote, some of our readers might, and we don't want to alienate our readership by appearing to choose sides in such a controversial argument.”

“Human Life Alliance has worked with hundreds of student newspapers, giving young people a chance to learn truth about abortion,” said HLA Executive Director Jo Tolck. “I guess these two editors have decided for their entire university what other students need to know—so much for free speech and academic freedom.”

Human Life Alliance inserts were accepted by the Marquette University “Tribune”, the UW-Eau Claire “Spectator”, the UW-La Crosse “Racquet” and the UW-Whitewater “Royal Purple” newspapers this semester. The UW-Milwaukee “Post” and UW-Madison “Badger Herald” ran a similar HLA piece last spring.

“This is censorship. It truly is,” said Virginia Zignego, communications director of Pro-Life Wisconsin the organization sponsoring the inserts. “Either they are ideologically opposed to the pro-life message or too scared to run anything controversial. Whichever, it is insulting to the intelligence of college students.”

HLA offers a paid advertising supplement to student newspaper across the country as a way of developing on-campus dialog around the controversial abortion issue.

“icare…” is an updated version of the HLA’s original educational publication, “She’s a Child, Not a ‘Choice’”. Displaying vibrant colors and engaging graphics, “icare…” uses a “go-green” theme to educate students. The publication features an eye-catching center section entitled “Save the Babies” that focuses on the development of the preborn child including images of in utero child development.

Previous versions of HLA’s pro-life campus supplement include “The Silent Epidemic”, “Trapped…” and “We Know Better Now”. Combined, these pro-life materials have reached 162 million people since 1991.

"icare..." and Human Life Alliance's full campus campaign is available for review online at www.humanlife.org.

CONTACT: Jo Tolck, Executive Director

EMAIL: jtolck@humanlife.org

PHONE: 651.484.1040

2009 Campus Activism Prize Awarded by Human Life Alliance and Students for Life of America

For Immediate Release

Minneapolis, MN – May 13, 2009 – Human Life Alliance (HLA) and Students for Life of America (SFLA) announced the winners of their inaugural “Campus Impact Award” this week. The exciting new contest offered $1,000 in prizes to promote student pro-life activism during the 2009 spring semester.

Winners of the 2009 Impact Award are as follows:

First Place: Purdue Students for Life ($500)
Second Place: University of New Mexico (UNM) Students for Life ($250)
Third Place: Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Respect Life Club ($250)

Purdue Students for Life inserted 17,500 copies of HLA’s advertising insert We Know Better Now, which focuses on the humanity of the pre-born child and the gruesome realities of abortion, into their daily student newspaper, The Exponent. The insertion created quite a controversy on campus. “This was a powerful event to reach a maximum amount of students with the pro-life message, the entire student body was talking about life issues.” said HLA Deputy Director Joe Langfeld.

The University of New Mexico Students for Life used HLA’s Campus Campaign of posters, handouts and tabling to interact with students on campus. The two handouts were We Know Better Now and Imposed Death, which educates people on euthanasia and assisted suicide. Kristan Hawkins, Executive Director for SFLA remarked, “We were really impressed by the UNM students. This is a new Students for Life chapter and they reached out to classmates to buildup the pro-life community. As a result, UNM students increased their campus club membership by 70%.”

Carnegie Mellon University’s Respect Life Club joined with a neighboring club at the University of Pittsburgh and used an on campus landmark, “the Fence”, to call attention to the tragedy of abortion. Students painted the fence with the message, “Are you on the Fence on abortion?” and other information to share the pro-life message on campus for four days. The one catch, students must camp out at the fence for an entire event, 24 hours a day, to protect against vandalism and answer questions regarding their message. Pro-life students used We Know Better Now as a handout to answer classmates’ questions.

Congratulations to all contestants and pro-life student clubs for their courageous pro-life activism and winning efforts.

More information about Human Life Alliance is available at www.humanlife.org or by calling (651) 484-1040. Students for Life of American can be reached at (703) 351-6280 or on the web at www.studentsforlife.org.

CONTACT: Joe Langfeld

EMAIL: jlangfeld@humanlife.org

PHONE: 651.484.1040

Human Life Alliance and Students for Life of America team up for campus activism award

For Immediate Release

Minneapolis, MN – January 28, 2009 – Human Life Alliance (HLA) and Students for life of America (SFLA) have joined together to sponsor a first of its kind “Campus Impact Award.” This new effort offers $1,000 in prizes to promote student pro-life activism for the 2009 spring semester.

Kristan Hawkins, Executive Director for SFLA, announced the award at their annual student conference last Saturday at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC as part of the March for Life weekend. “We’re thrilled to partner with HLA and promote this exciting opportunity for pro-life students,” said Hawkins. “This is just what new clubs need to get off the ground, a boost in funding.”

The “2009 Campus Impact Award” challenges high school and college students to promote pro-life issues on campus. Students may use HLA materials to promote the humanity of the pre-born child, abstinence education or end-of-life issues as a project to help their peers embrace a pro-life philosophy and develop their own campus club.

“The Campus Impact Award gives young people an incentive to stand up for their pro-life beliefs in a hostile atmosphere—high school and college campuses. We hope to encourage students to proclaim a pro-life message to their peers,” stated HLA Deputy Director Joe Langfeld.

Students are encouraged to contact Human Life Alliance or Students for Life of American to receive a copy of the official rules. The contest begins February 1 and runs through March 31, 2009. Contestants are encouraged to document their “Campus Impact” project with YouTube style videos to present for final judging.

Ideas for student projects include distributing pro-life information on campus, poster campaigns, leafleting at basketball games, tabling in the student union and more. Three cash prizes of $500, $250 and $250 will be awarded to the top three students clubs who succeed in producing creative and broad reaching educational efforts.

“This really is an excellent opportunity for new clubs to get funding to do even more pro-life work at the end of the academic year and plan for next fall’s semester. We’re looking forward to the creative submissions from pro-life clubs across the country,” said Ms. Hawkins.

CONTACT: Joe Langfeld

EMAIL: jlangfeld@humanlife.org

PHONE: 651.484.1040

Censorship of pro-life information begins on Pennsylvania campus.

For Immediate Release

Minneapolis, MN – November 19, 2008 – Officials at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania refuse to run an advertising supplement on abortion in the student newspaper, “The Campus.”

The 12-page advertising supplement “We Know Better Now,” sponsored by Human Life Alliance, provides detailed information on pregnancy and the impact of abortions on student’s lives.

“Our goal is to provide information on the humanity of the pre-born child and gruesome realities of abortion,” stated Jo Tolck, executive director for Human Life Alliance.

At Allegheny College, officials for “The Campus” had already accepted payment for the November 13 edition when a local supporter noticed it did not appear in the paper.

“We were shocked the paper would take the money, have us ship 1500 copies of ‘We Know Better Now’ and then refuse to run the advertisement,” said Tolck. “Newspapers have a right to reject advertisements, but Allegheny College student newspaper officials had ready accepted the ad., scheduled a run date and received both the supplements and payment.”

Human Life Alliance has not received any communication from Allegheny College newspaper staff since they were notified of the rejection. “We contacted the newspaper upon learning that our insert didn’t make it into ‘The Campus’ and were told our advertisement was too controversial—even after they had accepted the advertising fee,” Tolck said.

“The Campus” staff have been unresponsive to Human Life Alliance’s request to clarify the situation.

“At this point, they can’t even find the advertising supplements and we have the tracking information confirming delivery,” said Tolck. “We see this type of censorship all the time. It’s a shame that on a college campus some individuals still oppose free and open discussion of issues relevant to students.”

More information about Human Life Alliance and “We Know Better Now” is available at www.humanlife.org or by calling (651) 484-1040.

CONTACT: Jo Tolck

EMAIL: jtolck@humanlife.org

PHONE: 651.484.1040

More Pro-life Censorship—at a Catholic University.

For Immediate Release

Minneapolis, MN – November 21, 2008 – Twice in two weeks, pro-life advertisements from Human Life Alliance have been denied access to college students—this time at Gonzaga University.

“We’re saddened to learn Gonzaga University, a Catholic school, has refused to accept ‘We Know Better Now,’ our pro-life advertising supplement for ‘The Gonzaga Bulletin,’” said Joe Langfeld, Deputy Director for Human Life Alliance. “As a non-profit organization dedicated to educating students on the humanity of the pre-born child and gruesome realities of abortion we use college newspapers to reach 19-24 year-olds who are the number one age group of abortion participants.”

When asked to run the advertising supplement, officials from “The Gonzaga Bulletin” rejected the inserts stating, “There are articles in the insertion that cast a negative light on various organizations or individuals. While these statements may be true, we simply cannot insert them in our paper per our advertising policies."

“Of course some statements in our publication are objectionable to ‘various organizations or individuals.’ We present documented truth about the largest abortion chain in the nation, Planned Parenthood, and its founder Margaret Sanger,” noted Langfeld. “The business of abortion is ugly and we think college and university students have a right to read the facts from someone other then abortion providers.”

The Gonzaga denial comes on the heels of another rejection at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA last week.

“Fortunately, there’s good news to report from Allegheny. After phone calls, emails and a visit form a local HLA supporter, student editors have agreed to insert ‘We Know Better Now’ in the January 19, 2009 issue of ‘The Campus’ student newspaper, Langfeld said. “We’re thrilled these students have communicated with HLA and agreed to give us a voice on their campus.”

More information about Human Life Alliance and “We Know Better Now” is available at www.humanlife.org or by calling (651) 484-1040.

CONTACT: Joe Langfeld

EMAIL: jlangfeld@humanlife.org

PHONE: 651.484.1040

Human Life Alliance Joins with African American Leaders to Discuss Abortion

For Immediate Release

Minneapolis, MN – April 21, 2008 – Over 16 million African American babies have been aborted since Roe v. Wade made abortion legal in 1973. In light of this devastation, many African American leaders are crying out against this new form of genocide in Human Life Alliance’s latest publication “Did You Know?”.

Using the form of an advertising supplement, “Did You Know?” will reach hundreds of thousands of people with a life-saving message. It can easily be placed inside community newspapers or handed out at churches, college campuses and crisis pregnancy centers.

The comprehensive publication is written by prominent African Americans for the African American community. Authors of “Did you Know?” include Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and founder of King for America, Inc.; Dr. Johnny Hunter, President of Life Education And Resource Network, Inc.; Rev. Arnold Culbreth, Urban Outreach Director of Life Issues Institute; and Star Parker, founder and president of the Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education. These powerful writers, along with many others, present a compelling case of support for all human life, including unborn African Americans.

“For too long, people have been allowed the luxury of avoiding hard examination of life questions, using common rhetoric such as, ‘I’m not for abortion, but it’s not my right to tell someone else what to do with her body,’” writes Dr. King. “In ‘Did You Know?’ the authors refute common rhetoric with solid and sensible answers to those who would make light of the issue at hand.”

“Did You Know?” cites powerful statistics proving Planned Parenthood has targeted the African American community for abortion. African American women account for only 13% of the female population in the U.S. yet obtain 38% of all abortions. 62.5% of abortion clinics are located in the inner city. Readers will see the direct connection between abortion and the dwindling community population.

“The content of ‘Did You Know?’ truly has the power to change hearts and save lives,” said HLA Executive Director Jo Tolck. “Once the African American community realizes this threat to their existence, they will rise up to reject the gruesome realities of abortion and embrace life.”

More information about Human Life Alliance and “Did You Know?” can be requested by calling (651) 484-1040, emailing feedback@humanlife.org, or visiting www.humanlife.org.

CONTACT: Jo Tolck

EMAIL: jtolck@humanlife.org

PHONE: 651.484.1040