Annalise Bachmann, one of the National Leaders Collective’s (NLC) December leaders of the month, is a William Wilberforce fellow attending the University of Maryland. Learn more about Bachmann’s activism below.   

I knew I picked the right university last spring when conversations with fellow students spurred the start of a Students for Life of America (SFLA) group. At first, many people thought that my large state school would be an accepting or easy environment for a new pro-life group, and very few thought it was a good idea for me to jump into the chaos of running a controversial group within the first weeks of arriving on campus. The people who gave this advice were right: being a pro-life leader on a large, hostile campus is not easy.   

But it’s completely worth it.  

My campus had previously had an SFLA group, so that’s where I started searching for support to register a new group. My SFLA regional coordinator put me in touch with the former president, who offered great advice and pro-life connections.  

I went straight to work. My first few weeks were full of direct messaging on Instagram, coffee meetings, and grabbing lunch with other students to find an e-board for the group. After three weeks, I met several people considering leadership and decided to post on my Instagram, inviting people to stop by the Student Union. Though only one person came in person, registering the people interested in leadership began.  

We still faced obstacles. Despite filling out every required document and expectations, we were denied several times for hardly any reason. I remained consistent in resubmitting our group’s registration until we were finally accepted after being told the denial was a mistake. Even during the grueling process, I kept recruiting and spreading the pro-life message. I connected with a Christian ministry to set up a table after their service, adding thirty people to our email list in one night. We also used free speech rights on campus for two tabling events, including the fall SFLA tour. We also tabled against our state’s abortion ballot initiative by creating our literature geared toward college students. The amendment, unfortunately, passed, but we were happy that we had done something during this election cycle before even being recognized as an official group on campus.  

Both tabling events were met with verbal hostility, but we showed like-minded students that pro-lifers can and should be bold on campus. I met several students at the “Go Fund Yourself” tour, and these conversations showed me just how vital our pro-life presence on campus is. Pro-life boldness on campus has the simultaneous effect of emboldening others to be open about their pro-life convictions. We don’t change campuses by keeping our activism private and behind the scenes: changing hearts and minds begins with being seen.  

Walking into the new school year and group registration process, I had the advantage of a great connection with my SFLA regional coordinator, who I knew from my time as president of my high school’s SFLA group and NLC fellow. Joining the Wilberforce Fellowship gave me mentorship, fellowship, and encouragement from others in the NLC program and has given me the confidence to remain bold and act on my pro-life convictions. If students want to start or grow a group on campus, SFLA has their backs and will give them the encouragement and resources needed to succeed.   

Trust me, if the Pro–Life Generation (PLG) can thrive on my campus, it can on other campuses, too.  

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