Hundreds of college and high school students from around the country gathered at Georgetown University for the annual Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life on Monday. The anti-abortion conference, held as a precursor to the March for Life, hosted speakers, discussions and vendors that met to show support for the cause. Preceding the conference was the annual Mass for Life, given by Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington D.C., on Sunday. The Luau for Life, benefiting the Northwest Pregnancy Center, a local crisis pregnancy center founded by Georgetown alumni, followed the Mass, according to a press release. Approximately 450 students heard Archbishop Raymond Burke speak in Gaston Hall Monday. Burke recently expressed concern about Georgetown Professor Fr. Peter Phan’s 2004 book, Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue for violating Catholic teachings. Burke also gained publicity by stating that he would deny communion to 2004 presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rick Majerus, basketball coach at Catholic St. Louis University, because of their stances on abortion. Deirdre McQuade, director of planning and information for the Pro-Life Secretariat of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, gave the second keynote speech. Lauren Funk (SFS ’10) was among the attendees at McQuade’s speech, “Truth, Dialogue, and Jacob’s Well: A Model for Building the Culture of Life.” “I found it stimulating because she was telling everyone something they don’t always want to hear – we must be kind, be charitable, not be judgmental, and be open to others, patient, and loving. It was a very good message,” Funk said. “It’s not up to us to choose what is in people’s hearts and minds,” McQuade said in an interview following the event. “We need to be creative and to offer them something better.” Her speech focused on using the biblical story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman as a metaphor for how people at the conference should challenge those who support abortion with love and not with accusation, she said. “The number one thing that I took away from [the conference] was the youth of the movement,” said Dan English (MSB ’10) who was on the conference board and is a member of GU Right to Life. “It was a conference run by students, for students. The students were very passionate about the issue. The greatest effect was seeing the youth presence at both [the conference and March for Life],” he said. The March for Life is an annual anti-abortion event held on the national mall that hosts speakers and demonstrators who meet in conjunction with the decision date of the landmark abortion debate case Roe v. Wade. “Everyone there has mixed feelings,” GU Right to Life President Caitlin Barr (COL ’09) said of the march. “On one hand, mourning for all the abortions that had been performed but on the other hand being with tens of thousands of people who support your cause.” “It was a humbling moment,” English said. “It was really touching when they had the final prayer and a bunch of Catholic bishops on the stage. It was strange to have all those people there in complete silence,” he added. This year’s O’Connor Conference was hosted by GU Right to Life and the GU Knights of Columbus. The conference is held in honor of John Cardinal O’Connor, the late archbishop of New York, who was an ardent advocate of the anti-abortion cause. It is the largest anti-abortion collegiate conference that precipitates the March for Life, according to the event’s press release.