Submitted by: Caitlyn Dwyer, M.T.S., assistant professor of theology

Thomas More University has always sought to help pregnant and parenting students on an individual basis; however, this [past] summer, we made a more visible, institutional commitment to supporting all pregnant and parenting members of our community.

In October 2023, members of the diocesan We Choose Life committee shared a flyer with me detailing the Guadalupe Project – an amazing initiative at Catholic University of America (CUA) which seeks to build a culture of radical welcome for moms, dads, and babies on campus. As a faculty advisor of Thomas More’s Saints for Life (SFL) club, I knew many of CUA’s initiatives fit with the hopes of SFL’s then-president, Amber Konerman ’23, to pursue similar advancements on our campus.

Their efforts also aligned with our administration’s desire to be more family-friendly, as evidenced by the expansion of the parental leave policy. I sent the flyer to Thomas More’s Vice President of Strategy and Chief of Staff, Kelly French, and she quickly convened an Administrative Council Pregnancy and Parenting Taskforce, which included Amber, me, and other representatives across campus.

Over the next couple of years, the group worked to outline and implement feasible initiatives that would advance the following mission:

As the Catholic university of the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky, Thomas More University welcomes and celebrates students and employees who are parents or may become parents. We strive to ensure that Thomas More University is a supportive and encouraging presence in the lives of all students, faculty, and staff in keeping with our recognition of the dignity of every human person as made in the image and likeness of God.

This summer, we finally brought our plan to fruition. We have published a central web page outlining the legal rights and resources available to pregnant and parenting students and employees. The goal was to communicate clear support for parents and to create a “one-stop shop” for answers to questions related to continuing education and employment at Thomas More while pregnant or parenting.

We designated two convenient parking spaces as maternity parking for pregnant students and employees. Permanent changing tables were installed in the men’s and women’s restrooms of the Connor Convocation Center and the Mary Seat of Wisdom Chapel. We confirmed that, as members, students and employees of Thomas More can utilize Five Seasons’ childcare services while working or attending classes.

Lastly, with the help of the late Krista Wilmink, we converted an office in the lower level of the Saints Center into a lactation space for students, employees, and campus guests. Krista freely offered her design expertise to create a beautiful, welcoming, and relaxing space on campus for moms and their babies. On one wall, there is a raised quote from St. Edith Stein, affirming the dignity of motherhood that Krista believed in and embodied: “To be a mother innately means to cultivate, to guard, and to develop true humanity.”

Thomas More community members are excited about these developments, with one pregnant employee saying, “This is the best time ever to have a baby at Thomas More!”

We hope these initiatives help all Thomas More parents feel valued and empowered to finish their education or continue their employment at our university. These efforts are a step toward building the “civilization of love” that Pope St. John Paul II often spoke about, making Thomas More a community characterized by radical hospitality — a place where all people experience their intrinsic worth as beloved children of God.