Pro-life speaker gets cancelled just days before event

The University of New Mexico (UNM) recently canceled a pro-life speaker just days before Students for Life (SFL) hosted him, according to a blog post from SLF. 

President of the UNM chapter of SFL, Victoria Trujillo, told Campus Reform that the pro-life advocacy organization seeks to make an impact by “[b]ringing in speakers who have lived experience and can provide testimonies on how their life has been impacted by abortion.” 

“It gives a face to the reality of abortion,” Trujillo continued.

The chapter wanted to host Joel Fevig, whose “mother tried to abort him, twice” according to an event description from Michigan Technological University. A Christian American family adopted Fevig from the Philippines, and he now uses “his story to testify of God’s goodness and soften people’s hearts.” 

For Trujillo, hosting Fevig would bring a “new perspective to the table and show why we are so adamant about protecting life at all stages.”

[RELATED: Clemson pro-life group faces harassment in lead up to Kristan Hawkins event]

Eight days prior to Fevig sharing his story, Trujillo was informed that she needed to fill out a form providing a schedule of the event for the UNM Police Department (UNMPD). 

Although the club is a Charted Student Organization, UNMSFL was asked to pay full price for hosting an event on campus.

“Prior to this we were told that we would pay a discounted fee,” the SFL blog post reads. 

Chartered “organizations are granted privileges including access to campus facilities,” funding, “and the ability to rent and checkout equipment from the Student Activities Center,” according to the Student Activities Center website. 

Days before the event, Trujillo was called into a meeting with the UNMPD, the Associate Director of Business Operations, the Student Union Building SUB Director, and the Director of Student Activities. 

They asked Trujillo whether she completed the form for UNMPD. 

“They asked me if I had filled out the form I was notified about on Monday because UNMPD had not received any information,” Trujillo said in the blog post. 

“Apparently, the form I was told to fill out was not the right form.”

[RELATED: This pro-life student leader receives hateful, violent messages from peers daily]

The Administration informed Trujlllo that even if the correct form had been turned in, she could not host her event as planned because UNM is a polling place for election day. 

The administration “didn’t want to risk the integrity of Election Day should there be a negative response” to the event according to Trujillo. 

Trujillo was told to reschedule, but she didn’t want to “for an event less than a week away.”

She reportedly left the meeting “frustrated, a bit upset, and frantic.”

UNMSFL ultimately hosted the event off-campus with a local Americans for Prosperity group.

Trujillo told Campus Reform that “[t]he event was small as a result” because of last-minute changes. 

Campus Reform contacted UNMPD, UNM, Fevig, and SLF for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.