Those who happened to walk by St. John’s last Tuesday could not help but notice the sight of hundreds of pairs of various types of shoes lined up on the steps of the church. As they passed by, students discussed the unique display, took photos, stopped to read the signs and really tried to understand what everything meant.
The display was organized and put together by Creighton Students for Life and the Catholic Students’ Organization for the 40th Anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, which legalized abortion in all 50 states on Jan. 22, 1973.
According to the Legal Information Institute, Roe v. Wade was a case in which the Supreme Court ruled that women had a constitutional right to an abortion. Forty years later, this topic is still controversial and surrounded in debate, with many different perspectives.
“The purpose of the display is to raise awareness,” said Arts & Sciences sophomore Christian Andreen, president of Creighton Students for Life. “The empty shoes symbolize our peers who should be with us here at Creighton, but died because of abortion.”
Shoes were chosen as a symbol because they are inherently personal items that are with us and define us throughout our lives. Andreen and her team were inspired to do a shoe display by the “shoe room” located in the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. The room is filled with hundreds of shoes – old, new, worn torn – stacked in piles. They are meant to represent the victims of the Holocaust, and the room is said to evoke intense emotion with the overwhelming number of shoes, according to a visitor of the exhibit.
“We wanted the shoes on the steps to bring feelings like this to the Creighton campus,” Andreen said. “We wanted Creighton students to understand that they are missing friends, lovers and classmates.”
This one of a kind display was definitely the topic of conversation, and the meaning behind it has and surely will continue to lead to much discussion and emotional response.
Written by: Manaswita Tappata