On Oct. 5, 2025, Winona State University Students for Reproductive Justice (WSURJ) held a reproductive justice rally at Windom Park. The event started by some gathering at the Gazebo at the center of campus before walking to the park together.
Every year on the second Sunday, there is a “anti-choice” rally, and the goal of this event was to ensure that people who are hearing their message would also hear one that advocated for choice.
Fourth-year psychology and criminal justice corrections major and a member of the WSURJ board, Katana Provost, emphasized the importance of the time they were holding this rally. It was held in an effort to combat anti-choice messaging that may have been spreading around Winona at the same time.
“We got to do it on the same day to raise awareness and opposition of them and provide proper resources and education to those who may hear their claims,” Provost said.
However, beyond this being a counter to a “anti-choice” rally, it also served to help educate others and raise awareness of the matter at hand, reproductive freedom. As there have been many changes in public health information in recent months, it has become more essential to be aware of what is happening around the country in terms of Reproductive Justice.
“We would like to put this on yearly just in general to raise awareness about it. And I think now is more important than ever to really be raising awareness about the rights that we have and the rights that are getting stripped from us. And hopefully just to get people thinking about it more, because it is more important than ever.” Temki Newell, fourth year psychology major and member of the WSURJ board said.
The rally also functioned as a way for people to be surrounded by other like-minded individuals, which not everyone always has access to. This rally connected the Winona State Community, including faculty and students, with the greater Winona Community and even brought in a potential future representative.
“It’s cool to see that people care. And I think that’s the main goal, we want people to care and we want people to feel safe and heard and be able to get together to make a difference, because we’re much more powerful as a collective,” Newell said.
This collective was made up of the Winona State community and the Winona community coming together. As Winona is a college town, it is easy to assume that the rally would just be students, but this was not the case. People who normally frequent the Winona Protest for Palestine also showed up at the event. It was remarked during a speech at the rally, how the struggle in Palestine is also connected to that of reproductive justice. Another common connection was that just because current events aren’t affecting certain groups now, it may expand to them in the future.
“Silence is violence… Just because it doesn’t directly affect you yet, doesn’t mean that it won’t. And, I mean, we’ve seen the historical patterns of things that have happened in the past in other countries and in our own. I think that it’s really important because not only does it help you to build community with like-minded people, but it also gives you a place of education where you can learn more and raise your own consciousness,” Newell said.
Beyond the need to keep people aware and to protect personal rights in the future, this rally also functioned to show personal responsibility to help stand up for others who are already feeling the effects of policy changes and those who may feel them in the future. This connected the event back to being supportive for people on a human-to-human level.
“People have sort of a personal responsibility to stand up for each other when we can’t rely on the systems of government to do that… We need to be able to rely on each other in order to keep each other safe,” Newell said.
The emphasis on community was evident throughout the rally. It was common to see reproductive justice club members urging people to help themselves to food, water, and signs to hold for those present. Being a part of this community fostered at the rally was emphasizing not just leaning on and standing up for those who were present, but also for those who couldn’t be present.
“It’s really really important for college students especially because there’s a lot of communities that are unable to physically be present in these things, and we are the most able. You know, we are at our youngest, most valuable time in our lives and so it is important for us to be able to get out there, speak up and speak out, because we are the spokespersons for a lot of people who don’t have the physical [or] mental ability to be able to get out there and do that,” Provost said.
The collectivism took form in the solidarity between the many different identities gathered at Windom Park, and the support from all sides was felt by those in attendance of the rally. The importance of attending events that create collectives, like this one, does not go unnoticed.
“[People should show up for community events like this] to create a sense of solidarity within our community, so we can mutually support each other,” Amity, a Winona community member, said. “[I came] to support reproductive rights, especially amid fascist takeovers of the nation.”
Events like these are important not just to those who can show up, but also for those who can’t. This rally was about making voices heard and building a combined community in Winona to ensure people feel supported in a time when support seems to be a tall order.
