As the 2024-2025 academic year comes to a close, Students for Life of America (SFLA) will be awarding several outstanding Students for Life groups with Best New Group, Best High School Group, Best College Group, and Best Standing With You (SWY) Group distinctions – and you get to help us choose which groups deserve these awards! Notre Dame Right to Life has been nominated for the Standing with You Group of the Year Award. 

The winning group from each category, selected by the Pro-Life Generation (PLG), will receive a certificate, a shoutout on our national social media accounts, and a $300 donation to help expand the group’s efforts further next school year. 

Groups nominated for the Standing With You Group of the Year award have gone above and beyond in the Supportive Services pillar of pro-life activism. These student groups strive to serve women and families by advocating for campus policy changes that support pregnant and parenting students and create a culture of Life. 

About the Group  

Notre Dame Right to Life was established in 1972 and has over 900 active members, making them the largest non-academic student organization at the University of Notre Dame and the largest university pro-life group in the nation.  

The group hosted over 100 events on campus this year, including baby showers for pregnant students, Let Them Live fundraisers, Rosaries for Life, Respect Life Masses, numerous guest speakers, a Right to Life formal “Ave Maris Stella Ball,” and much more. Notre Dame Right to Life has also launched the Be Not Afraid Project to improve their support of mothers and families on campus. 

Read about their accomplishments below to decide if they will receive your vote. 

Notre Dame Right to Life’s Top Accomplishments in the 2024-2025 Academic Year 

Established the Be Not Afraid (BNA) Project 

After junior student Mireya Monterroso found herself pregnant last spring, the Notre Dame Right to Life community was given hope and inspiration from her courageous story to make Notre Dame a more welcoming place for pregnant and parenting students. Her now ten-month-old baby, Anaís Hope, has truly served as a beacon of hope for the campus community. Learn more about her story and the project’s conception here.   

Notre Dame Right to Life has centered their work with Be Not Afraid on supporting the University’s Family Resource Center (FRC), the hub for pregnant and parenting students on campus. This includes advertising center events, keeping their diaper and wipes supply stocked, and supporting pregnant and parenting students who come to the FRC through baby showers, peer-to-peer support, material assistance, and abundant love and prayers from the Notre Dame Right to Life community.  

With support from the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, BNA has partnered with Campus Ministry and Student Government to raise students’ awareness of the plethora of resources available on campus for pregnant and parenting students.   

 The project included putting together meal trains and providing material support to six undergraduate families who welcomed or are preparing to welcome their precious babies soon.  

The group also celebrated four families at BNA’s Undergraduate Families Celebration in April. In this baby-shower-style brunch, group members met the parents, played with the babies, and joined in fellowship with one another to celebrate the gift of life at Notre Dame.   

Showered with many gifts and Notre Dame Right to Life onesies for babies, the undergraduate families’ celebration created a culture of radical welcome for pregnant and parenting students. 

To read more about the project, click HERE. 

Project Mom Baby Shower 

In the fall, the Notre Dame Right to Life group celebrated three expectant mothers in the South Bend area. At the Women’s Care Center, a baby shower was thrown for these incredible women who courageously chose Life—two of whom were pregnant with twins! The group and the center’s team provided resources and donated items, and a wonderful time was had to celebrate the gift of five precious lives! 

Let Them Live Fundraiser 

The group also hosted its annual Let Them Live Fundraiser for Let Them Live mom, “Kathryn,” a mother who recently chose Life for her baby girl. By selling cotton candy on Notre Dame football game days, creating and selling custom Notre Dame Right to Life merchandise, and reaching out to over 1000 alumni and friends, the group raised over $4,000 for “Kathryn.” The group also sent a welcome basket to “Kathryn” with diapers, wipes, books, and baby items to welcome her baby girl.  

COMING SOON IN 2025-2026…  

Notre Dame Right to Life will create a comprehensive pregnancy resource guide in the 2025-2026 academic year, hoping to place it in all dorms, educational buildings, and bathrooms. It would include every resource available to students who become pregnant or know someone pregnant at Notre Dame or the nearby community.  

In 2025-2026, they also hope to revamp the Family Resource Center’s website with a newly produced video briefly explaining the resources available at Notre Dame and featuring testimonials from parenting students who have chosen Life. They hope this would be the first video students watch when looking up “pregnancy resources Notre Dame” to communicate a warm, welcoming presence for pregnant and parenting students. 

Click HERE for more information about Standing With You.