After losing their student organization status, members of DePaul’s Planned Parenthood Generation Action plan to keep advocating for reproductive health care on campus. They’re reshaping the group to continue their mission — now without a formal affiliation with Planned Parenthood.
DePaul’s Planned Parenthood Generation Action held a town hall Friday to discuss next steps after the university deactivated the group over its affiliation with the national organization. Members voted to re-register in the fall as a reproductive justice student organization without formal ties to Planned Parenthood.
On June 3, DePaul’s Office for Student Involvement (OSI) met with PPGA to discuss the club’s organizational status, according to the PPGA leadership board. A letter given to PPGA during the meeting officially notified the group of their deactivated status.
“This step reflects DePaul’s responsibility to uphold its Catholic, Vincentian values, which does not allow formal partnerships with organizations whose core missions are in direct conflict with the teachings of the Catholic Church,” University Communications told The DePaulia.
The university said that PPGA can re-register as a new student organization with OSI if they are consistent with DePaul’s Catholic and Vincentian identity.
“DePaul remains deeply committed to fostering an environment where thoughtful and respectful dialogue on complex and important issues, including reproductive health and wellness, is encouraged on campus,” University Communications said.
PPGA’s on campus programming is focused on providing comprehensive sex education to students. Off campus they provide contraceptives without university funding.
Members of the PPGA discuss plans of action at their town hall at the Lincoln Park Public Library on Friday, June 13, 2025. Before their deactivation, PPGA had been active at DePaul since 2022.
PPGA President Maya Roman said she hopes that OSI will be cooperative in the process to establish a new club in the fall.
“I hope OSI will collaborate with us in going through this process and be transparent with their policies and how they want us to operate, instead of leaving it for interpretation,” Roman said.
De’Anna Miller, a program manager of advocacy, organizing and campaigning at Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, said she attended the town hall to show her support for the students.
“I definitely hope for these students to continue their advocacy on reproductive freedom, reproductive justice, bodily autonomy,” Miller said. “I hope that they just continue to have these conversations and that they don’t feel restricted in having them.”
PPGA said that advocating for reproductive justice on a Catholic campus is important in today’s political climate.
“Reproductive justice is under attack in America, and students who go home to states that are
anti-choice should be allowed to come back to Chicago, to DePaul, and feel safe and welcomed,” the PPGA leadership board said. “By removing a group that advocates for marginalized communities and finds resources and services for them, the university is actively going against their Catholic and Vincentian mission and making the community unsafe.”
This deactivation means that all programming put on by PPGA is no longer allowed, including events on DePaul property and social media posts. The group is also unable to receive funding from the university for programing through the student activity fee.
“We will be unable to provide comprehensive sexual education, free contraceptives, advocacy work, uplift social justice and reproductive justice in the same capacity- if at all,” the PPGA leadership board said.
Lilly Sutherlin, a DePaul freshman and member of PPGA, said she voted to re-register as a new campus group because of the importance of sexual health outreach programs, such as “Pillow Talks,” which could potentially resume if the organization gets approved.
“I’m also a little disappointed that we won’t get to continue in the same capacity with the affiliation with Planned Parenthood,” Sutherlin said.
Sutherlin said having an affiliation with Planned Parenthood “holds a weight,” that an unaffiliated group lacks.
The PPGA leadership board said that their organization offered resources that bridged the gap between reactive and proactive sexual health measures on DePaul’s campus.
“There is a deep importance to reproductive justice being advocated and organized on a Catholic campus, especially as the government weaponizes people’s faith to attack our fundamental right to bodily autonomy,” PPGA leadership board said.
