Colleges these days are full of women’s studies departments that essentially train students to be pro-abortion activists.
But an Oklahoma college recently launched a new program in response – one that teaches students to be effective pro-life advocates.
The College Fix reports Oklahoma Wesleyan University plans to offer students an applied bioethics certificate for training in pro-life activism and pregnancy center management. The applied bioethics course begins in July, according to the report. The program is in partnership with the Life Training Institute, a pro-life apologetics organization, and CareNet, one of the largest pregnancy resource organizations in the world.
University spokeswoman Megan England said OKWU wants the program to train “leaders who are prepared to defend and protect the innocent in ways that are more than abstract.”
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Here’s more from the report:
OKWU is also studying the “feasibility” of expanding the program into a full-blown bachelor’s degree that prepares students for “vocational work in pro-life apologetics, political consulting, or for an executive role” in pregnancy help centers and medical clinics, according to the program website.
[University President Everett] Piper justified the program by citing the Wesleyan Church’s “explicitly and unequivocally pro-life” position. “We humbly acknowledge that God defines life and that men do not,” he said in an email provided by Media Relations Coordinator Megan England.
While OKWU says applied-bioethics credits earned by students will be transferable, it’s still working out the details because the program is “in the very early stages,” England told The College Fix.
It ran a pilot session last summer after “a group of highly-respected pro-life voices put the curriculum together and began looking for a university to take the idea and run with it,” she added.
The program has two tracks: The first teaches students to effectively defend the pro-life position, and the second teaches students about running pregnancy-related ministries.
Jody Ward, a pregnancy resource center manager from Baltimore, said the new program will equip students to be leaders in the pro-life movement.
“I went from the frustration of finding myself flat-footed in conversations about abortion to being thoroughly equipped to winsomely answer arguments in ways that are life changing,” Ward said. “Don’t pass up this opportunity to take your ministry to the next level and begin making abortion unthinkable in your community.”
The program is welcome news for the current generation of college students. Despite growing hostility toward conservatives on college campuses, polls show that young adults are strongly pro-life and are active in the cause. The new program fills a growing need to equip eager young students for the pro-life cause.
