Anti-abortion activist incites campus-wide protests and division during campus event

by ELLA CORDLE & MEAGHAN VAN DYKE

Opinion Editor and News Editor

Anti-abortion activist and Students for Life spokesperson Lydia Taylor Davis visited UMW’s campus on Monday, inciting protests from students and community members opposing her rhetoric and presence at the university.

The main event was devoted to audience participation, which ranged from students asking Davis about her activism to 30 minute debates about ideology. The latter included topics such as rape culture, biological definitions of life, the purpose of abortion laws and LGBTQ+ identities. 

Elizabeth Kyne, a junior philosophy major who engaged with Davis during the event, speculated that Davis was only interested in collecting clips for her Instagram page. 

“That is all she wanted. She did not care about having an actual conversation,” Kyne said.

Another student who spoke during the event, junior psychology major Sera Delinski, disagreed with the event’s premise that Davis was making Gen Z anti-abortion. 

“My issue with you here is that you’re here to propose that Gen Z is anti abortion,” she said. “And what I hope, if anything, this demonstration shows you, is that they’re not and that they don’t plan to be.” 

Delinski continued, “And if you can look at the recent election, if you look at anything, it can say that people are not in the habit of regressing the rights that they have already achieved.”

Earlier in the day, Davis tabled on Campus Walk in front of Lee Hall, where she encouraged passersby to debate their opinions on abortion with her. The tabling attracted both supporters and protestors. By 1 p.m. that afternoon, the crowd appeared to split down the middle, with supporters gathering on one side of Davis and protestors gathering on the other.

Ayiana Allen, a junior international affairs major, attended the tabling and held a sign that read “I will not carry a rapist’s fetus.”

“Mostly I just want to send that, you know, everyone should have a choice over their body,” Allen said. “We don’t outlaw things that men do, so why do we outlaw things that only women can do. You know? So I guess—if you have a womb, I should say—that if you’re able to have a child.”

She continued, “I love America. I love my freedom of speech, and I’ll do anything to keep our values without white supremacy.”

Many students at the protest echoed the sentiment that Davis’s presence on campus was inappropriate.

“I think her ideology, even if she wants to claim that she isn’t for all these laws, her ideology is directly contributing to women dying due to strict laws. And I think it’s bullshit,” said Viktor Newby, a junior sociology major. 

Davis’s stop at UMW was the last of her ‘Make Gen Z Anti-Abortion’ tour, and culminated in a three-hour talk in the Cedric Rucker University Center’s Chandler Ballroom. The event was organized by the UMW Students for Life chapter and was attended by over 300 students, staff and community members. 

While the front rows were reserved for members of the Students for Life club, protesters filled in seats in the back half of the room and held signs standing against the back wall. Signs included pictures of a uterus with “Not government property” printed across it, and “I am a woman, not a womb.” 

“Troy Paino and all the other university administrators, they claim to stand for our ASPIRE values, and yet they allow people like this to come here and tell women what they can and cannot do with their bodies? Tell my community members what they can and cannot do with their bodies? This is absurd,” said sophomore history major Nick Thodal.

He continued, “We as a community, I’m proud of us that came out here and are standing against stuff like this, people who feel big and brave now that they’re guys in office, but we’re here, and we’re just as American as they are.”

The event ended at exactly 9 p.m., and Davis exited the stage to a cacophony of boos, jeers and applause. The audience was asked to leave the ballroom as Davis posed for a photo with the UMW Students for Life club members.

“I was proud of how many people went up there and said something and just made their voices heard. I think that’s the most we could do,” Delinski said.

To advertise Davis’s visit, UMW Students for Life painted the spirit rock the day before her appearance. On the same day, just hours later, protestors repainted the rock in protest of her event. 

In response, Davis posted a video of students repainting the rock on her personal Instagram, garnering nearly 5,000 views and 1,500 comments in three days.

President of the UMW Students for Life chapter and senior mathematics major Angela Payne began organizing the event in August.

“I asked [Taylor Davis] to come to Mary Washington to share the pro-life position,” Payne said. 

She continued, “I wanted to draw attention to that issue and ask the UMW community to think critically about what is going on.”

Payne felt the event was a success, though she was upset by the actions of some of the protestors.

“I hope next time an organization brings a guest on campus that students disagree with, they will uphold the ASPIRE values and not resort to misogynistic and degrading language,” she said.

The event was not exclusively attended by protestors; some students were in support of Davis. 

“I’m quite proud of her,” said junior history major Marcus Flanagan. “She’s doing something very brave. The people are being very rude, but she’s still being able to have, you know, open discussions, speak freely and I’m glad that she’s speaking about the right thing.”

Other students felt the purpose of the tabling was lost in the chaos of the crowd. 

“Disruptive is the word I would give it,” Coby Gilyard, senior communication and digital studies major, said. “Because it is hard, because obviously she comes here to try to talk, and from my point of view—I could be very wrong—but from my point of view, it seems very like they don’t let her talk. People don’t let her talk, and it’s very, ‘I’m right, you’re wrong.’”

Despite the chaos around the event, Gilyard remained open-minded.

“I’m curious to see what she has to say, what others have to say,” Gilyard said.

Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Walsh quipped at the event that it was one of the best-attended of the year.

Grace Wagner contributed to reporting for this article.