My name is Eva Dils, and I am a rising sophomore most likely majoring in Political Economy with a Public Health minor. This past year at Tulane, I worked on the Executive Board of National Alliance on Mental Illness’s (NAMI) Celebrate Mental Health Festival; served as the Mental Health Vice Chair of the Student Health Advisory Committee; helped found TUlinked, a student-run organization that matches first-year and transfer students with upperclassmen campus leaders to guide them through their first semester at Tulane. Next year, I will serve as the Director of Student Health and Wellness for Tulane’s Undergraduate Student Government.
My work is informed by my deeply-held belief in the power of communities of care. Communities of care can be as small as a Tulane student organization or as large as an entire nation, but each shares a goal of seeking to understand, affirm, and uplift their members.
With NOAF this summer, I hope to contribute to the development of a community of care in New Orleans. I will learn about the work NOAF engages in and the people it engages with, asking questions and engaging in conversations to expand my understanding of the issues surrounding abortion in New Orleans and the South more broadly. I will physically support people’s right to choose when to be a parent by helping create a calmer clinic environment through my presence and demeanor as a clinic escort. Finally, I will work on other projects that seek to improve people’s access to reproductive health services through efforts based particularly in equity, destigmatization, and information dissemination.