A lover of Batman, Friends, adorable tiny things (puppies!) and Jesus, Kathleen (Kat) Anderson is a relatable Auburn woman. However, she isn’t your ordinary Auburn woman. She grew up as an Army Brat, joined the AROTC when she began her time at Auburn and is especially involved with the AROTC as she is a part of the Ranger Challenge Team, a competitive ROTC team. One of Kat’s biggest passions is getting to know people on a personal level. She told me that she will talk to random people because she doesn’t think of anyone as a stranger. Kat is a strong supporter of anything having to do with sports and athletics, including Auburn football (War Eagle!). She is also the president of a new organization on campus, CHAARG.
Kat knew she wanted a group like CHAARG to be a part of Auburn’s campus when she walked into first floor of the rec and felt out of place as a girl at the free weights section. She received unwelcoming looks, as well as being looked at like an animal in a zoo. She knew this wasn’t acceptable and no woman should have to feel this way while trying to take care of her body, so she attempted to start a small group similar to CHAARG within her sorority. Then one weekend, she had a friend come down from Ohio State, where CHAARG originated, who told her all about the organization. With this, Kat felt a calling to start up Auburn’s very own CHAARG chapter. Her goal is to develop a community of girls who can try new things together and fail together, because no one is perfect at every type of exercise. It is important to her because she feels that women have an expectation to run, do crunches or be on the elliptical. Kat stated, “I want to break that mold and expectation that this is the way you’re supposed to work out because you’re a girl.” That is essentially what CHAARG is about, getting college women off the elliptical and helping them find their fit.
When she completes college, she wants to go active duty into the Army as either a combat engineer or into the adjutant general corps to one day be a public affairs officer.