Pro-life student group finally approved after three rejections
The NJIT student senate has finally approved the establishment of a Students for Life of America (SFLA) chapter on its campus after previously denying three earlier applications.
'It is clear that some higher power at NJIT is at work against us stretching out the approval process in the hopes our movement will die organically,' a SFLA student said during the process.
After a lengthy battle, pro-life students at a school in New Jersey are finally gaining recognition.
The New Jersey Institute of Technology’s student senate has approved the establishment of a Students for Life of America (SFLA) chapter on its campus after previously denying three earlier applications.
[RELATED: Christian university stonewalls pro-life student group]
Former group leader Jonathon Kreinberg wrote about the organization’s experience in a blog post to the national SFLA website on Aug. 12, describing it as a “long and tiresome process.”
The group initially submitted a proposal in September 2021, but was rejected over concerns that it would cause “division on campus,” according to an email obtained by Campus Reform. The school also noted that there was “no set criteria” regarding the approval of student organization applications.
The pro-life students were informed that their group was “not unique,” and that they could join existing organizations like NJIT’s Science and Politics Society or the Murray Center for Women in Technology to discuss their views or find resources for pregnant and parenting students. Upon contacting both of these groups, however, the students found that neither was active.
Over the next year, the prospective group submitted two more applications, each time seemingly addressing the senate’s concerns from the prior submission, but was denied each additional time.
As the school rejected the pro-life group’s application, it simultaneously sent emails to the student body promoting a then-prospective chapter of Planned Parenthood Generation Action (PPGA).
One email invited students “passionate about health care equity and protecting reproductive rights” to a PPGA interest meeting. Another email advertised a PPGA workshop, and a third invited students to the group’s “Sex, Love and Condoms!” event.
“[A]s a prospective group, they were not required to submit a list of 10 interested members to host an event as we were required,” Kreinberg noted. “Even with our consistent interested members list, we did not have a similar opportunity and observed a clear violation of our right to free speech.”
After reapplying, the group was invited to give a presentation to the student senate, but was again denied because of “overlap of services with other programs and departments on campus.”
Kreinberg expressed his frustration with the situation, saying, “It is clear that some higher power at NJIT is at work against us stretching out the approval process in the hopes our movement will die organically.” He noted, however, that the group was still “working with SFLA legal counsel to win back the constitutional right to free speech that has been stripped from [SLA students] three times over.”
After publication of his blog post, Kreinberg confirmed to Campus Reform that the school received a demand letter from SFLA and “responded speedily that they were going to hold another vote for the club at the start of the semester.”
Though Kreinberg graduated, senior student Matthew Fleishman continued to advocate for the group’s approval. Fleishman told Campus Reform that the new student senate president contacted him and invited the pro-life club to the senate’s first meeting on Sept. 13.
The group was finally approved following this meeting, though it is unclear what the reason was or if the demand letter played a role.
Campus Reform contacted NJIT for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
