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Wheaton Student Leaders Say Pro-Life African American Speaker Made Them Feel 'Unsafe'

Photo Credit: Ryan Scott Bomberger via Facebook

Students at Wheaton College allege that an African American pro-life activist made them feel "unsafe" and "unheard" as he addressed racial justice and abortion during a campus forum.

Ryan Bomberger was invited by Wheaton College Republicans to speak at a campus-event called "Black Lives Matter, In and Outside the Womb."

During the 50-minute presentation, Bomberger spoke about the impact abortions have on the black community.

"Planned Parenthood was birthed in eugenic racism. They've never severed that timeline. They never severed that connection. How do you sever from your past if every year you give out the Margaret Sanger award? You don't give out rewards for people you don't hold in high regard," he said.

Afterwards there was a 30-minute Q&A where students had the opportunity to ask questions. Bomberger also stayed after to answer additional questions.

Six days after the forum, Bomberger was criticized in an open letter by Student Body President Lauren Rowley, Student Body Vice President Tyler Waaler and EVP of Community Diversity Sammie Shields. In the letter to the university, they denounced Bomberger's visit saying:

"The speaker...made several comments at the event that deeply troubled members of our community. His comments, surrounding the topic of race, made many students, staff, and faculty of color feel unheard, underrepresented, and unsafe on our campus."

They also said it was necessary to respond to the offensive rhetoric, but they didn't quote any specific comments they disliked. And Bomberger points out the letter writers did not name the special interest group that invited him nor his racial background.

He wrote, "I am a person of color, a clarifying fact which you conveniently left out of your letter of denouncement. I was primarily presenting a perspective of those who are never heard, always underrepresented, and are actually unsafe — the unborn."

CBN News reached out to Wheaton College. According to their media relations department, the three students are choosing not to comment further at this time because they say Bomberger's organization has threatened potential legal action. Bomberger does accuse the students of "defamation."

The college stated to CBN News, "Mr. Bomberger claims he's been ignored by Wheaton's administration, but that's not the case. The Radiance Foundation e-mailed a threat to sue three college students, and blind-copied a few College employees. This was followed by a second e-mail, this time addressing several employees, blind-copying a few others. At that point, Wheaton administrators reached out to the Bombergers directly to hear their concerns."

Bomberger says the college has since rejected his proposal for a conversation.


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