B!llikens for Reproductive Justice
Executive Board
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Casey Nichols (they/them) is a senior Biomedical Engineering major with a minor in Women's and Gender Studies with aspirations to be a physician-scientist. Growing up in Iowa, they experienced poor sex education and homophobia which catalyzed their passion for reproductive justice and queer health. Continuing their organizing and policy work in college, they co-founded B!llikens for Reproductive Justice to combat university policy that results in unmet student sexual and reproductive health. Casey also is a student-athlete on the cross country/track teams, co-leader of the health care policy pod, does research on changes in immune development due to premature birth, and is active within LGBTQ+ community groups and organizing. They hope to overturn SLU policy banning free contraceptives on campus and abstinence-only sex education. When Casey isn't trying to get free condoms to SLU students, they are a proud plant parent with 23 plant children and enjoys making sourdough out of their sourdough starter, Sebastian.
Deepa Shukla (she/her) is a senior Public Health major with a minor in math. She believes that not supporting reproductive justice efforts means perpetuating every existing disparity, from racial to economic to those relating to gender/sex/sexuality. In the same vein, she fights for reproductive justice because it lies in a vast gray area throughout many subsectors of society. The culmination of all these factors makes it hard for the modern individual to navigate the basic concept of sex, which is, ironically, so fundamental to the ebbs and flows of our evolutionary history. To reconcile this confusion, she considers it her natural and undisputable duty to champion for measures that can provide more lucidity, such that an individual can consider the best course of action. As such, her main goal for BFR is ameliorating health outcomes in the student body by providing safe sex supplies to protect against transmitted disease, unwanted pregnancies and to amplify existing local resources in areas where my team is unable to bridge the gaping hole present.
Laney Isakson (she/her) is a Finance major with a concentration on financial analytics. She serves as a social media manager for BRJ. She became interested in reproductive justice because her, aunt, Amy, has always been one of her biggest supporters in life and has helped her to grow her passion for justice in numerous aspects. Laney's aunt sat on the volunteer board of Planned Parenthood in Indianapolis for several years and never failed to encourage Laney to fight for what she believes in. By working with this club, Laney hopes to bring access to reproductive healthcare, equality within the healthcare system, and justice to those fighting for basic reproductive care. She believes that no matter their gender, identity, or sexual orientation, every person should have equal access to the best reproductive protection and healthcare offered.
Sophie Johnson (she/they) is a Class of '24 Social Work major/Criminal Justice minor and on the B!llikens for Reproductive Justice social media team. They are an STL native who's been living in Lawrence, KS since 2016. Sophie believes that reproductive justice is part of the foundation of liberation and is an abolitionist and dreamer who believes in eliminating the prison industrial complex and the police in their current forms. They got involved with BRJ to help fight purity culture and on campus as well as provide educational resources and access to safer sex supplies and testing! Sophie became a social work major to connect people with resources that were made for them and that will help them gain personal autonomy and economic freedom. Her main goal for BRJ is increasing access to STD/STI testing and turning the SLU community away from purity culture. They enjoy reading, taking walks, making music playlists, and taking care of plants in their free time :) 🏳🌈