As a returning student, I was expecting an academic education, but I wasn’t prepared for a lesson in free speech.   

Excited to restart my education at Miami-Dade College, I also relished the opportunity to bring new energy to my campus by starting a Students for Life of America (SFLA) Group to inform students about the evils of abortion and how it harms women. Higher education should promote learning, freely sharing, and debating ideas, right? But ever since my first attempt, I have encountered a constant stream of setbacks.  

At first, I didn’t think anything of it. After all, my first “roadblock” was myself; unfortunately, I was too late to register my SFLA Group and had to wait until the following semester. It seemed innocent enough until I asked what I could do to prepare to register for the new semester, which was met with silence. I thought the request got lost, so when it was time to register, I applied and emailed the person in charge several times with no response. Finally, I received a reply, and a school official told me they rejected my group because it did not align with “United Nations (UN) guidelines.”   

That seemed fairly vague, so I asked for clarification, but their clarification was ambiguous. They told me my group didn’t promote certain “ideals,” ideals that they failed to explain. In fact, they didn’t explain much of anything and ignored my follow-up email asking them to be more specific on what “guidelines” they were referring to. After pressing for more details, they ignored my email.  

I asked my current advisor what to do, and he suggested I bring in the Dean of Students or someone from that office. I spoke to Assistant Dean Belen Gutierrez over a Zoom call, and she informed me that every club must follow UN guidelines and promised to investigate my case. I eagerly awaited an update, but after several weeks and multiple emails, I still received no official response. I even tried emailing Ramirez Karen, a student life specialist at the school, but, unsurprisingly, I received no response.  

The roadblocks wouldn’t deter me from fighting for Life on campus, however. I could sign in as a vendor and table in “Building 6” without paying $100 for a brief period since I brought my own table. However, after a complaint from an older student or teacher about my group’s “nefarious” purpose, I was instructed to email someone else (who did not respond) and pay the $100 fee, despite it not being policy last semester. They insisted, “It’s the policy now.” Refusing to comply, I began tabling on the grass by “Building M,” which proved successful as my group grew and discussions increased.  

The security chief saw me one day and said I needed to sign in at the student life center. I explained that they wouldn’t let me sign in without paying, which I refused to do, and showed him MDC laws stating it was a “free speech zone.” He called the police on me. I spoke to the officer and showed him the MDC statute, and he sided with me but asked me to try signing in again. When I attempted to sign in, the receptionist stalled by “typing” without giving an estimated wait time. I told him I wasn’t playing his game and reported it to the officer, who understood the situation and left. Since then, I haven’t had issues with law enforcement or security.  

Not only have my free speech rights been initially silenced, but I’ve been threatened online through Instagram. There have even been calls to spit on me. Despite all of this, I am not worried. Thanks to SFLA’s legal team, I’ve sent a demand letter to Miami-Dade College asking them to respect my free speech rights and instate my group.  

I know the Lord is with me, and I can see the fruits of this work with my very own eyes. While all this has been going on, God used me to save a baby from being aborted after a mind-changing conversation with a vulnerable mother, and that makes it all worth it. I pray my efforts to establish an official group will be successful very soon! 

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