Despite the persistent rain and overcast sky, Diana Jimenez and members of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform gathered under the Bell Tower on Tuesday, Dec. 2. They displayed a large poster of a fetus aborted at ten weeks with the intention of inspiring students to be active in the pro-life community. Jimenez, who graduated in the spring of 2013 from the nursing program and has now returned as an art major, brought similar posters on campus two previous times, but this is the first time she received approval from Student Development.

Campus Safety asked Jimenez and a group of other students to remove similar graphic posters outside of the Student Union Building in May 2013 due to posting without a permit. Four weeks after the incident, Jimenez returned and filmed an altercation with Campus Safety Chief Ojeisekhoba when he told her that she did not have permission to display the posters, according to a previous Chimes article.  

Jimenez’s permit for the first display was originally denied because Student Development avoids displays of a more visceral nature in the last two weeks of a semester due to student’s high stress levels, said Matthew Hooper, associate dean of students. However, since Tuesday’s display occurred in the third to the last week of the semester, the group’s permit was approved. Since last year’s incident, Student Development developed a more concise policy on displaying graphic images on campus, Hooper said.

“Our position on the use of graphic images to communicate important messages has not changed, what we have clarified is a policy that makes it more clear how students can go about doing that,” Hooper said.

Partnering with the CBR, Jimenez said she believes that her initial project led to updating the policy on the use of graphic images.

“I would assume that the project done last year sort of awakened Biola to the need that there is to help students,” Jimenez said.

The CBR shifted its focus to Christian campuses in an effort to better educate future church leaders about abortion, said Gregg Cunningham, executive director of the CBR.

“We’ve shifted our focus now to Christian college campuses because the simple truth is that the pro-life movement can’t win this battle without the church, and we don’t have the church. We’ve never had the church because we don’t have the pastors, because schools like Biola aren’t doing enough, in our judgment, to inspire and equip future church leaders to mobilize their fellowships against abortion,” Cunningham said.

The organization’s attention has focused on institutions such as Biola, Westmont College and Liberty University, which have all previously not allowed CBR to use graphic images on their campus. These policies have left the group to turn to civil disobedience as its only option, Cunningham said. After the June 2013 display, Cunningham posted an email to the CBR website pledging his support to Jimenez and encouraged her to stand firm in the face of Biola’s response. With the footage that Jimenez had captured of her encounter with Chief Ojeisekhoba, Cunningham created a video edited together with a speech for President Barry Corey about courage. CBR also sent protesters with large posters of aborted fetuses to the front of Biola on the first day of the fall 2013 semester.

However, the organization is grateful that Biola accommodated their display this time around. Westmont has also made changes to their graphic images policy, and the group will test these new updates in the near future, Cunningham said.

Through the proper channels, Student Development is open to students who want to host events or programs that motivate and educate other students, Hooper said. The department will also look for ways to better engage with students on the updated policy.

“We’re going to need to tighten up how we do things as we continue to develop the actual practice of the policy,” Hooper said.

Considering the conversations that the initial display in 2013 caused, Jimenez plans to continue these types of displays.

“This is just to have people know what it means to live pro-life. To not just say that you’re pro-life, but to actively live it out,” Jimenez said.