Isabel Hinojosa ’24
A&E Editor and Chive Editor
On January 22, 2023, several students from Lake Forest College attended the national women’s march, “National Mobilization on Madison—Bigger than Roe” in Madison, Wisconsin, a two-hour drive from campus.
“When I heard there was going to be a national march in Madison, there was no question. Our rights are on the line, other people’s rights are on the line, so we need to go,” said Ari Collins, a sophomore at the college.
Several of these students, the majority of them members of the Delta Delta Delta sorority on campus attended together. “We were all in the car and were excited. We were talking about our beliefs and how important we thought it was to be doing this,” said first-year student Sydney Foulon.
The group was mixed about their activism experiences prior to the national march. Some had been to several marches prior to this one, but some had never been to any protests of any kind.
“My first women’s march was in October of 2021 in Chicago after coming to campus,” said Collins. “I also attended a rally in Charleston, South Carolina, in May 2022, and I attended another march this summer in July 2022 in Davenport, Iowa.”
On the other hand, first-year Grace Miller has a different background in activism. “I’ve always wanted to go to a march and thought it sounded really cool and something I should go to,” Miller shared. “So, when Ari sent me the text, I said definitely because I thought it was a good way to go with people I know so that I’m not going alone.”
Sophomore Katherine Mikna’s first was a women’s march in Fall of 2022. “It was definitely a topic I cared about [before going to the march], but you don’t see the magnitude of it until you go to a march or a place where there’s people with a common interest,” she said. “You can really see how passionate everyone is about it and it’s an emotional experience.”
The consensus of everyone who attended was that marches for things you care about evoke a feeling like no other. Sophomore Maggie Murphy did her best to share how she felt.
“I almost cried once. It was very… not overwhelming, necessarily, but touching I guess would be the word,” Murphy explained. “All these people chanting the same thing all at once and people being there for the same cause. It’s kind of like when you hear the national anthem and you get goosebumps. That’s what it reminded me of.”
Seeing people all rally for the same cause was something very reassuring and empowering for the women who went. Mikna commented that, “It’s always cool to see people who have the same ideas about the same topic because it shows you that you’re not alone in your dissatisfaction with laws.”
Seeing Roe v. Wade getting overturned was also an extremely emotional experience for these students. Several of them shared their thoughts about the moment they found out about the Supreme Court decision.
“I knew that Roe v. Wade was threatened, but I didn’t think that it was actually possible for them to overturn it,” Collins explained. “I think I cried for four hours. It just felt like such an attack. I was naive, I thought that 2022 was a year where social progress was celebrated, but apparently not.”
Murphy shared that she was sitting in a children’s music class in Connecticut when she got the news. “I was with this little 2-year-old girl, and I just thought, ‘Wow, her whole life has been decided by people who are going to be dead by the time she can start having children. I cried; it was very emotional.”
Foulon is originally from Toronto, Ontario. Moving to the United States after this decision has been a major change for her.
“Everywhere in Canada it’s legal to get an abortion,” she explained. “I remember the summer before I came here was the summer when abortion was banned in certain states. I remember thinking ‘Thank God, Illinois is fine’, but, if I was coming to a state where abortion was illegal, I don’t know what I would do. I wouldn’t really feel safe or represented.”
Upon arriving in Madison, the students met at a street corner and joined in with the march that had already begun. They were immediately immersed in the energy the protesters had created through the chants blasted through megaphones, signs held proudly in the air, and the marching band.
“I think the marching band was there just to get people hyped,” said first-year Elise Kuiper. “It was uplifting and happy music.”
The students walked 6 blocks with their fellow protesters until they reached the Wisconsin State Capitol building, where the march ended. However, the protest did not end there.
Mikna believed that this location was a powerful choice. “It was very compelling to be in the actual capitol building because it’s where the actual laws are made,” she said. “Where actual government officials work.”
In the capitol building, the women’s march hosted three speakers. The one that stood out the most to all the students I talked to was Mx. T Clearwater, of Madison, from the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.
“[She spoke about] Native American women having illegal adoptions,” Murphy told me. “That was what they tied it into, which was interesting to hear. So, I left wanting to learn more about that still.”
This group of students emphasized the importance of women’s rights for everyone. The slogan of the march was “Roe was the floor, not the ceiling”.
“I think it’s a powerful statement and it speaks on the fact that yes, Roe. v. Wade did protect the right to abortion, but it didn’t protect the right to abortion for everyone,” Collins shared. “Abortion was and is not very accessible to everyone, especially marginalized communities, so I think that slogan speaks to the fact that yes, we do need to re-establish Roe, but we also need to do more.”
The students who attended the march had several ideas about what students at LFC could do to make a difference.
“I think people should be aware of how they can vote,” Mikna said. “Especially on a college campus, it can be hard because you’re away from home.” Murphy’s ideas were along the same line.
“Talk to your local political candidates,” she encouraged. “I know there are a ton of offices in Highwood and Highland Park.”
Lastly, Kuiper had the simplest, perhaps most impactful advice: “Talk about it. Care about it. Talk to your friends. If someone disagrees with you, be polite about it and try to come at them at an angle where you can make them understand the situation.”
“Roe v. Wade was established in 1973 and the fact that people were living under that for 50 years and now we have this huge step back, it’s just crazy to us,” Collins said. “We need to recognize that but also recognize that that’s why we went, because the fight’s not over.”
