UM Medical Students Walk Out Of Induction Ceremony When Anti-Abortion Speaker Takes Stage

ANN ARBOR, MI — Numerous incoming University of Michigan medical students walked out of their induction ceremony Sunday when an anti-abortion doctor took the stage as the keynote speaker.

A social media video showed the students wearing white coats leaving the auditorium Sunday when Dr. Kristin Collier began speaking. As of Monday afternoon, the video had over 9.5 million views and over 62,000 retweets.

Collier, a UM medical school graduate, is an assistant professor of medicine at the university and the director of the school’s Program on Health Spirituality and Religion. However, it's her open stance against abortion rights that prompted the students to protest.

"Holding on to a view of feminism where one fights for the rights of all women and girls, especially those who are most vulnerable," Collier tweeted in May. "I can’t not lament the violence directed at my prenatal sisters in the act of abortion, done in the name of autonomy."

More than 340 incoming and current University of Michigan medical students signed a petition opposing the selection of Dr. Kristin Collier as the keynote speaker for the White Coat Ceremony, which is the university's annual induction of the new medical school class, according to the Michigan Daily.

"While we support the rights of freedom of speech and religion, an anti-choice speaker as a representative of the University of Michigan undermines the University’s position on abortion and supports the non-universal, theology-rooted platform to restrict abortion access, an essential part of medical care," the petition reads. "This is not simply a disagreement on personal opinion; through our demand we are standing up in solidarity against groups who are trying to take away human rights and restrict medical care."

Michigan Medicine spokeswoman Mary Masson told the Daily that Collier was selected for her medical qualifications and the college was not going to replace her solely based on her views on abortion.

"The University of Michigan does not revoke an invitation to a speaker based on their personal beliefs," Masson wrote. "However, the White Coat Ceremony will not be used as a forum to air personal political or religious beliefs; it will focus on welcoming students into the profession of medicine."