Some people may argue that LSU students have no concern for the world around them, but two girls are working hard to prove them wrong.
Gena Olson and Kate Wilson are organizing a group of LSU students to attend the March for Women’s Lives in Washington, D.C., on April 25.
“It’s basically a show of solidarity,” Olson said.
The March for Women’s Lives Web site said women are facing major threats on their rights.
“The time is right for a public demonstration of historic size in support of reproductive freedom and justice for all women,” the Web site said.
The march will take place on Sunday afternoon in the National Mall and will be followed by a rally.
Olson, a philosophy freshman and co-organizer of the LSU delegation to the march, said she thinks LSU’s involvement in the march is important to both the campus and the cause.
“It’s a really unique experience,” she said. “We’re kind of in an age where grassroots activism isn’t what it used to be.”
She said this trip will give LSU students the chance to participate in something unlike anything they have ever seen.
Olson thinks the group from LSU also will help people realize “LSU is more than what’s perceived.”
Katie May, a political science junior, said she is going on the trip.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing,” she said. May said the $35 price is a good deal for the trip.
May said she thinks the march will be a great way to bring some attention to women’s rights.
“Having as many voices heard always benefits your cause,” May said.
Kate Wilson, an English freshman and co-coordinator of the trip, said they were inspired by a talk at the LSU Women’s Center to be proactive. They found out about the march on the Internet and decided to take in the project themselves.
Wilson said she and Olson have put hours into fund-raising and have called organizations across several states.
Planned Parenthood is offering its services to make the trip affordable for students. Wilson said they knocked the price down to $35, which she hopes will get more students involved.
“LSU isn’t very well-known for its feminist voice,” Wilson said. “It’s important that they not go unnoticed.”
While the march focuses on women’s reproductive rights, the opposite sex is just as concerned. Wilson said the march is for “all ages, all races, and all genders.”
“We’ve had a lot of male interest,” Olson said. She said the group going so far is about half male, half female.
Olson said by press time 21 students will be committed and several more have expressed interest.
“We just want to recruit like-minded people,” Olson said.
There will be a table set up in Free Speech Alley for interested students to stop by today from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. The march is sponsored by several civil rights groups across the U.S. and is open to anyone across the nation.