Tarah Verkamp, 20, is looking at how she can make a difference on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas.
In Conway, the sophomore is an active member of Catholic Campus Ministry. With several other students, she traveled to the University of Notre Dame this summer to receive evangelization training.
“Within our group, we learned how to evangelize through one-on-one ministry with another person and to encourage one another to become disciples in Christ.”
She has been active in Catholic parish life all her life, first as an altar server and then as a lector and Vacation Bible School volunteer for five years at Sacred Heart Church in Charleston.
Verkamp sees her mission as organizing a Students for Life group on campus. The group would be separate from CCM, but they are supportive of her goal.
According to Verkamp, Planned Parenthood in Little Rock hands out brochures and notecards to students telling them where they can get abortions. The campus clinic also distributes information from Planned Parenthood in the waiting room. A Students for Life group would insure that pro-life supporters would get equal time to promote respect for life.
Verkamp, who is majoring in sociology, plans to get her master’s degree in social work and would like to work with children. Her cousin, Jennifer Verkamp-Ruthven, director of Catholic Immigration Services-Little Rock, has helped her plot her course to achieve her career goal.
