Love Your Body Week: “Be Brave Enough to Be Yourself”
Contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
(574) 284-4579
February 20, 2014 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—Saint Mary’s College students will host Love Your Body Week on campus next week and the public is invited to attend two events. The theme for the week is “Be Brave Enough to Be Yourself” and includes talks and activities meant to encourage young women to see themselves in a positive light. Student organizers at this women’s college will inspire participants to empower their own beauty by straying from societal and media-provoked stereotypes of what perfect looks like. This will be the 4th consecutive year for the event.
“Love Your Body Week is an important week on campus to promote communication and discussion about issues related to self-image that so many women struggle with, but so rarely express in conversation,” said event chair Sam Moorhead ’15.
Moorhead organized this year’s events with the support and involvement of 15 other committee members, the Student Government Association (SGA), the office of Student Involvement and Multicultural Services (SIMS), the Belles Against Violence Office (BAVO), Campus Ministry, and Project HEAL.
“We hope that the events we have put together for the week encourage the importance of a positive self-image and bring the women of the community closer together,” Moorhead said. “We want Love Your Body Week to be a week of education and a week of hope and encouragement to those who battle negative thoughts related to body image.”
The following events are open to the public and appropriate for female high school students and their parents as well as college-aged women. Click for a campus map.
Monday, February 24
7 p.m.
Student Center Lounge, 1st floor of the Student Center
Christina Grasso ’11 will speak of her personal battle “On Fighting and Surviving Anorexia.” The freelance fashion writer founded the New York City chapter of Project Heal, a non-profit that promotes the awareness of eating disorders and raises funds to provide treatment scholarships. She speaks regularly at middle schools, high schools, and colleges across the country.
Tuesday, February 25
8 p.m.
Vander Vennet, basement of the Student Center
Wendy Odour ’14 will speak defining beauty from a biblical perspective in her talk “True Beauty: A Definition from God.” The South Bend resident, who attended John Adams High School and plans to attend medical school after she graduates in May, will talk about transforming the mindset of young women who believe beauty is anything the media puts out to be the norm. She will co-present with University of Notre Dame sophomore Peace Maari.
About Saint Mary’s College: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind., is a four-year, Catholic, residential, women’s liberal arts college offering five bachelor’s degrees and more than 30 major areas of study, such as business, nursing, art, chemistry, and social work. The College’s single-gender environment has been proven, in study after study, to foster confidence, ethical leadership, and strong academic success. Saint Mary's College ranks 76 among the 248 “Best National Liberal Arts Colleges” for 2014 published by U.S. News and World Report. Founded in 1844 by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, Saint Mary’s College’s mission is to educate women and prepare them for postgraduate success whether it’s a first job, graduate school, or postgraduate service.