Dear Bentley collegiettes™,
Over the past few months, HerCampus Bentley has taken our campus by storm. We have had so much success since our site launch on September 13th, 2011, and are currently progressing through the ABA’s recognition process. Our achievements include over 1000 views per week since our launch, over 300 followers on Twitter, and receiving of an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from the Bentley community, to name a few.
In light of all of our success, I feel that it’s necessary to tell the story of how HerCampus Bentley was founded and why I believe it is so successful here at Bentley.
Over the past two years I’ve worked with several campus organizations, such as Alpha Psi Omega, the Women’s Center, Bentley Fashion Consultants,the Masters of Bentley A cappella, Orientation, Residence Life, and the STEP program. I’ve also interned at the American Program Bureau and with the Marketing Communication office here at Bentley. I can confidently say that I have been a passionate and enthusiastic member of these organizations and that my experiences with them have served to supplement my academic coursework.
However, I found that it was hard to draw connections between my various activities and sharing my experiences with the Bentley community.
I’ve been an avid HerCampus reader since my freshman year at Bentley, and I’ve always wondered, “Why isn’t Bentley listed alongside the other 175+ schools on the HerCampus page?” I found it strange, since Bentley has an exceptional competitive and entrepreneurial spirit, so I decided to look deeper into the MyCampus branches. I realized that the college and university sites for HerCampus were completely student-run!
In July of 2011, I decided to apply to start the HerCampus Bentley branch. I have to admit, I was definitely a little nervous at first to take on the task of starting up the Bentley branch of HerCampus, but once I began speaking with the HerCampus national office and with interested Bentley students, I learned that the Bentley branch had amazing potential for success. The application process for the Bentley MyCampus branch began in July 2011 and included submitting an application packet, complete with a publicity plan for our launch.
Finding out that my application had been accepted and that HerCampus would be coming to Bentley was one of the best days of my life. Not because I needed another position for my resume or because I wanted bragging rights, but because I could now start the new “voice” for Bentley women and all Bentley students. This “voice” would not only relay important information about events or on-campus news, but would also allow Bentley students to show who they are and why they are special – something that not all people in the business world get to do on a regular basis. Because we are a 60% male/40% female university, I was so ecstatic about founding an organization that would empower women and allow them to share their experiences to connect and joining with others through digital media.
The overwhelming success of HerCampus Bentley in our first few months just goes to show why we really needed it here – Bentley students clearly needed an open, yet effective, way to express themselves and share their experiences. I am confident that HerCampus Bentley will continue to grow and become even more successful than I ever imagined.
Thank you to all those who helped me with founding HerCampus Bentley, especially my fellow staff members, my family and friends, the HerCampus national team, and those that I’ve worked with at Bentley in the past. None of this success would have been possible without all of you, so thank you for always supporting me and my passion for HerCampus.
I look forward to the places that HerCampus Bentley will go over the next year, and I hope you will join us for the ride!
HCxo,
Kathryn Burgner
Founder, President/Editor-in-Chief of HerCampus Bentley