By Camille Cox | Staff Writer
Bears for Life, a pro-life organization on campus, created and fundraised a new scholarship called the “Pregnant and Parenting Scholarship,” open to men and women in need of assistance and resources.
San Antonio sophomore Caroline Carney, who serves as the Bears for Life public relations officer, said other pro-life clubs at other schools, such as Texas A&M University, have similar scholarships. Carney said Bears for Life plans to grow this scholarship in the future.
“For a while, Baylor told women that they could not be pregnant on campus,” Carney said. “Since that has been changed, unfortunately, there has still been a continued belief that that is true and more of a stigma on campus.”
Maumelle, Ark., sophomore Joy Moore, who serves as the Bears for Life director of operations, said scholarship recipients can receive up to $1,000 as of now, but the scholarship is need-based and could increase depending on funding.
“Students can receive $1,000 or more paid directly to their student account,” Moore said. “They would report it just like any other outside scholarship with the outside scholarship reporting form. That is the financial compensation, but the goal is that once we are in touch with students, we can direct them to some of the outside resources we have. One of our big partners is the Care Net Pregnancy Center, so they can go to them for free diapers or discount diapers or connect them to affordable day care options that can work with their crazy student schedule.”
Moore said she believes every woman should have the resources to choose their pregnancy, and this scholarship is a small step toward helping them reach that decision.
“I’m really passionate about women actually having a choice when it comes to this, so anytime when society or a group or the way things work tells a woman that she has to make one certain choice and doesn’t have options, that seems like a disparity,” Moore said. “One of the ways that happens in our society is that women are told they have a choice, but really abortion is a lot of times their only substantial choice to stay in school — or at least they think it is, when it’s really not. Many students in the past have had a pregnancy and been able to stay in school, even maintain a GPA they want, and so you can do both and you can have both. This scholarship is meant to provide more insight into those options for women.”
Carney said the goal of this scholarship is to support and aid men and women who are parenting as either undergraduate or graduate students.
“Our goal with this scholarship is to provide the support needed in helping women in crisis pregnancies choose life for her baby,” Carney said. “Of course, the scholarship is also there to continuously support parenting men and women who have already chosen life for their children.”
Students wishing to apply and learn more about the scholarship can reach out to Bears for Life on Instagram or fill out this google form to get in touch and get access to the scholarship form. Additionally, Baylor provides a list of resources on its website for expecting parents.
“My biggest hope is that when a student finds out that, say, his girlfriend is pregnant on campus, his first thought isn’t, ‘OK, how do we get rid of this situation or fix this problem?’ but embrace it as more of something he can congratulate her on and say, ‘Hey babe, we’ve got this. I heard about this scholarship; let’s see if they have any insight into other resources that they may be able to provide us with,’” Moore said. “A scholarship is a very early on thing, and with Baylor being as expensive as it is, we recognize that that isn’t a fix-all for all the problems or issues that come along with a college pregnancy. It is a hard thing, and it’s something we recognize.”
