Angela Jenkins
Staff Writer
Students Sandra Forman, Brandon Ingerson and Katie Taylor presented their research findings at the 6th Annual Take Root Conference. The theme this year was “Red-State Perspectives on Reproductive Justice.”
All three students are members of the Students Advocates for Public Action (SAPA).
Forman, a criminal justice major and the vice president of SAPA, said they chose red-state perspectives on reproductive justice as their topic to provide information on what is typically a misunderstood subject.
“We wanted to provide information to people on a subject that we felt had great impact on our state,” she said. “Many of these topics may often be avoided conversations, but it is important that people take time to gain knowledge about them so that progress can be made.”
Taylor, a political science major and president of SAPA, said the conference provided a great atmosphere to collaborate on political education.
Forman said the organization focuses on solving difficult but common problems within society.
“We are a group of students that are looking at the issues that affect many of us each day,” she said. “We create a space where open discussions can lead to powerful results. Our focus is to tackle challenging issues head-on through coordination and communication.”
Taylor, a political science major and president of SAPA, said the conference provided a great atmosphere to collaborate on political education.
“It is a great opportunity to not only find information on these causes in the state of Oklahoma but also meet activists, students, [educators], non-profit workers, public servants, and an array of different people working on these issues across the nation,” she said.
The students conducted an online survey in February 2016 which asked Oklahoma residents about how much they knew when it came to reproductive services in Oklahoma.
The findings indicated that the majority of the parents in the survey had children at young ages. It also said that the majority of women with unplanned pregnancies in the survey chose to give birth, but the majority of students believed women should be able to terminate the pregnancy if needed.
Taylor said she hopes students on campus will become involved.
“SAPA has signed up Cameron University as a part of the campus networking for the Take Root program,” she said, “so admission for Cameron students is free. I would encourage anyone who is passionate about any of these subjects to contact me to brainstorm ideas for the conference next year.”
Students interested in becoming involved with SAPA can attend the open discussion series. The next meeting will take place at 3:30 p.m. on April 20 in room 625 of South Shepler.