The mission statement and the fundraising structure of Promoting the Gift of Life, a registered student organization at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, have attracted the attention of at least one member of the Student Senate.
The group’s PioneerLink page states the group’s mission is to “make euthanasia, infanticide, abortion and destruction of human embryos socially, ethically and legally unacceptable solutions to human problems and to promote positive alternatives to each of these acts.”
That statement, however, differed from a mission statement posted on a “Go Fund Me” page that was created on behalf of the group by a professional fundraiser.
Carly Jude Hood, the Development Director at St. Augustine, is the creator and author of the “Go Fund Me” page, according to PGL President Lauren Goodale.
“She is very passionate about the cause,” Goodale said. “I didn’t write the mission statement on the Go Fund Me page.”
“I began the page during the summer after the group was approved because of my fundraising expertise,” Hood said. “I have done fundraising since college. I wanted to do anything I could do to help the group, and I wanted to do anything I can do to promote the group. And to reach the group of people that I know.”
The mission statement that Hood wrote, which was removed from the “Go Fund Me” page on Sept. 26, differed from the PioneerLink page.
The funding mission statement said that PGL’s president Goodale will “be leading a group of dedicated students and staff who will spread the word on the truth of abortion, the truth that most do not want to hear or even believe. Our mission is to abolish abortion in our lifetime.”
Student Sen. Kaylyn Raymaker indicated the discrepancies would be worth investigating, since the original funding page not only conflicted with the PioneerLink page, but might conflict with the guidelines of the Student Organizations Committee, a Student Senate committee that oversees registered student organizations.
Student organizations, according to the SOC’s document, Student Organization Requirements and Procedures, “must be student led and directed.”
“We have to look at both their pages, the constitution they drafted and they need to be following it as such,” Raymaker said. “Student organizations are required to follow their constitution and to use this as a guideline for how they run their organization. Any changes that an organization makes in action must be changed in their constitution as well. Revisions, however, do not need to be approved by the Student Senate unless their purpose has completely changed.”
The funding page allows people to donate online or to send checks to St. Augustine’s Newman Center, where Goodale is a student officer.
Goodale and the PioneerLink page claim no attachment to the Catholic church.
“PGL is not affiliated with any religion,” Goodale said. “We are looking to build a relationship with Clarity Clinic, as they are looking to open up with Platteville too.”
Clarity Clinic, according to its website, is a free clinic in Dubuque that offers a range of pregnancy-related services; its vision “is to reach the right women at the right time and serve them in the right way for the greatest possible gain of all.”
The Clarity home page displays a logo for CareNet, a Christian organization that offers services similar to Clarity’s.
The only affiliation PGL lists on its PioneerLink page is Wisconsin Right to Life’s Grant County Chapter.
Goodale said PGL has a closer connection with the chapter in Dubuque, which is not listed in their affiliations.
“We ask that organizations provide an up-to-date Constitution/Mission that will be posted on PioneerLink when they form,” John Sagehorn, Interim Involvement Coordinator, said. “[We] do periodic audits of organizations to make sure these are up-to-date [and] up to the organization’s standards.”
