The College Fix

‘We talk about being pro-life, and this seems like the right thing to do,’ campus priest says

STEUBENVILLE – Franciscan University of Steubenville recently opened a new maternity house near campus to provide a safe, supportive environment for students who are expecting mothers.

The maternity house was given the name the Guadalupe House and blessed by the Rev. Jonathan St. Andre, a friar at the Catholic university, in February.

“We started to realize that we had some students who, while they were here, were pregnant,” St. Andre told The College Fix in a recent interview. “We felt like we really needed to give them support … We talk about being pro-life, and this seems like the right thing to do.”

“It goes with our university charisms: encounter, conversion, and community. We want this to be a safe and holy place for encounter, where these young women feel encountered and loved and cared for,” St. Andre said.

When asked what inspired the name for the home, he said, “I think it was one of the first names that came to mind because Our Lady of Guadalupe, is herself showing with child.”

“She’s the patroness of life. I did not come up with the name myself, but when I heard it, it just seemed really to be appropriate,” St. Andre said.

Heather and Doug Perry donated the home to the university, a news release states. Prior to being a maternity home, it served as the Ad Gentes Mission house where American missionaries, including Franciscan students and alumni, could stay temporarily.

The building is a two-story house with three bedrooms. It contains a living room, two bathrooms, a basement with a living area, a kitchen, a dining area, multiple closets for storage, a fireplace, an office, and a front yard patio.

Viktoria McQueeney, a counseling graduate student at the university, is the residential coordinator for the Guadalupe House.

During a recent tour of the home, McQueeney told The College Fix that her duties include providing residents with counseling and support.

No students currently live in the home, but Franciscan wants to provide a place for expecting mothers while they are studying at the university, she said.

McQueeney said the maternity house also helps avoid liability concerns, as new mothers and babies can no longer live in the dorms. She explained that this is for insurance reasons, because it involves the safety of both the mother and the baby.

The house is open to “pregnant mothers enrolled at Franciscan University … for up to two semesters for the current on-campus housing rate,” according to a news release.  Mothers staying there also will receive “material assistance such as diapers, baby clothing, and nursery furniture.”

Some have criticized the maternity home by claiming it promotes premarital sex, which is against the teachings of the Catholic Church.

“The university and the church are clear that the gift of sexuality is for marriage,” St. Andre said.

However, “the church is also equally clear that we have a call to reach out to people on the margins,” he told The Fix. “And when I say margins, I want to be clear, that doesn’t mean they’re lesser. It means that they’re going through something in their life where they need more the care of the Body of Christ.”

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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A new house at Franciscan University of Steubenville provides living accommodations for pregnant and parenting mothers. Araceli Mingura/For The College Fix

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