Ten Christendom College students participated in the 53rd Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations in New York City from March 7 to 14. Working with the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), the students spoke with delegates and participated in the commission’s various meetings.
The students had the opportunity to lobby and provide moral support and research for those delegates who wished to defend traditional values. They also sat in on open conferences and NGO (non-governmental organizations) meetings.
The CSW gathered 192 national delegates and 5000 representatives of non-governmental organizations.
“It’s very bleak,” Senior James Tillman said. “The new US delegation appointed by President Obama is a Margaret Sanger biographer. They are really pushing their agenda down the throat of other nations.”
This caused a lot of resentment among the delegates. “The smaller nations feel bullied by the US and the EU,” Tillman said.
Students worked all hours of the night.
“We were up until five or seven in the morning on some nights,” Junior Tyler Ament said. “We needed to be there because we were making a difference. There are so few pro-life NGO representatives that our team of ten was a formidable force.”
In an email to the students that participated, C-FAM Director of Government Relations Samantha Singson told students, “You gave up your time, energy and resources in order to defend life and family at the UN and we thank you for your dedication. Our presence was felt and more than one delegate made it a point to compliment the [representatives] from Christendom College. As individuals, you were all outstanding, but the Christendom group dynamic was unprecedented. Your help during the week was invaluable and it was a pleasure working with all of you.”