Students of the University of Michigan Medical School staged a walkout at the school’s White Coat Ceremony on Sunday after Dr Kristin Collier, an anti-abortion doctor took to the stage as the event’s keynote speaker.
Dr Kristin Collier was serving as a keynote speaker for the event but her views on abortion sparked anger among the students.
The video of the walkout on Twitter quickly amassed over 200K likes.
Why did University of Michigan students walk out of their White Coat Ceremony?
The White Coat Ceremony is a tradition among medical students where they are given their first white coat, signifying their entrance into the medical field.
The ceremony has been described as a rite of passage for medical students, but many were not happy when the school chose Collier as their keynote speaker.
According to Newsweek, many students felt like the college betrayed its commitment to stand by abortion rights and care following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“This includes abortion care, which remains legal in Michigan while challenges to various state-law criminal statutes continue to proceed.”
Hundreds of students had previously petitioned to get Dr Kristin Collier, assistant professor of medicine at UMMS, removed from the initiation because of her anti-abortion stance.