Out of all the organizations that Mercer has to offer, there is one in particular that has stuck out the most to me this past year: Her Campus Mercer. Started in 2009, the group has only recently become an official organization by Mercer standards. This year they are recognized by SGA and Campus Life, which gives them the funding they need to host spectacular events such as last week’s Halloween photo booth. The group provided props for students to dress up with however they wanted and took pictures in front of a banner that Her Campus Mercer had decorated. The pictures were then printed, and distributed to the students via the mailbox, or were available via the Facebook page.
Her Campus is actually a nationwide organization, of which Mercer’s chapter is only a small part. With over 300 contributing chapters, the organization’s goal is to provide a place for college women to get knowledge that would not normally be provided to them. The group was originally started by Harvard students who were presenting at their school’s business week. They realized that there were no websites that were dedicated to the experience of a college woman, and so they submitted Her Campus and won the competition. Originally just a Harvard organization, the group has grown tremendously.
“We’re different because we write for our viewers and readers, and we try to reach out and tell them that if you need anything, we’re here,” said section editor Sameera Yusuf. “We try to reach out with things like the photo booth.”
“It’s fun to really push it, to get more people to know who we are,” says Olivia Brayan, who edits for Her Campus Mercer. “We’re like a family. Her Campus isn’t a competition.”
What I think is interesting about Her Campus is the way that it promotes the female college student and empowers her. There is so little of that anywhere, that to see it on the Mercer campus is definitely a welcome sight. For instance, the website brings to light something that was in the news recently: the Daisy Coleman case. The article that was written does a great job of explaining the facts before the author gives her two cents. But it’s not just for the purpose of social justice. The website also has links to articles about seasonal tips, the campus style blog, and basically everything else a college woman could want.
Basically, I chose Her Campus Mercer because it has caught my eye as an up-and-coming student organization that I think will be hugely beneficial to the Mercer campus. From their cute photo booths to their amazingly well-written articles, Her Campus Mercer is an organization that deserves the attention of the masses.
Brayan says that the group hopes to do one last big event around the first week of December to celebrate the Christmas holidays. They’re already planning events for the spring, but details are unavailable as of right now.
