Erica McLaughlin ’16 is a recent graduate of William Smith, who landed her first post-grad job at HubSpot, located in Cambridge, Massachussettes. As part of her new hire project at HubSpot, she is required to develop a business and its website, which is how she founded Weryse, a business principled in empowering young voices to create social change. Erica studied sociology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, but it was her involvement in Three Miles Lost that inspired her to create Weryse.
The following post is written by Erica herself, as she continues to spread her message about the importance of social change and share her story with you about how Three Miles Lost took the leap to create a movement on college campuses across the nation.
By Erica McLaughlin
The sad reality is: we all know someone. In the United States, one in five women is sexually assaulted in her lifetime. Sexual assault is a problem all over the nation, and college campuses (including HWS) are not exempt.
This spring, Three Miles Lost (3ML), our colleges’ all-female a cappella group, came upon the perfect opportunity to take a public stance and unite our campus in solidarity against sexual assault. When 3ML alumna Nelle Crossan ’13 presented us with the “Sing for Survivors” Contest, we sprang into action – adding extra rehearsals to learn the arrangement, and partnering with William Smith student Bree Von Bradsky ’16, who directed, filmed, and edited the music video.
Creating our own arrangement and music video of Lady Gaga’s song “Til it Happens to You,” (which she wrote with Diane Warren for the documentary “The Hunting Ground”), was something we were all passionate about because each of us has been affected by sexual assault, either directly or indirectly.
We wanted to make this meaningful for our community, so we decided to ask our community members to be part of the project. A e-mail invited everyone on campus to stand with us in solidarity, and the response was remarkable. Faculty, staff, administrators, and students from all groups across campus gathered together on the Coxe Hall steps to be part of our music video. It was so encouraging and inspiring to see so many people coming together because a group of women students called them into action.
We are so proud of our community, and hopeful that the solidarity means a better future – a future with less (no) sexual assault at HWS and beyond.
Music proved an extremely effective medium for raising awareness and sparking necessary dialogue. 3ML has been inspired to take on another project using music as a medium to promote social change. Our next project, a cover of Beyoncé’s song “Pretty Hurts,” is set to release this fall. Women are powerful, not just beautiful. They have voices worth hearing, and we want the world to know that. So stay tuned for the next music video this fall!
Visit Weryse for more information about Erica and to follow her blog Together We Move.