When I was a second-semester Seawolf back in Spring of 2015, my friend Sarah came back from winter break with a big idea: we should start a Her Campus chapter at Stony Brook. I had heard of Her Campus through Facebook and was hooked on the chance to become a Campus Correspondent and develop our own team from nothing. We contacted Her Campus, started the application process, got student 100 signatures to gauge interest, found our SBU advisor (Hi Cathrine) and soon got the green light. As our first six articles published on April 14that 8 A.M, Her Campus Stony Brook officially launched and we couldn’t be more excited.
18-year-old me had no idea the impact Her Campus would have on her life as a Seawolf.
Sarah and I recruited our friends to help us write articles every week to meet the Her Campus requirements, sometimes posting our last feature or profile just a few minutes before the Saturday midnight deadline. We wrote relatable and silly content together to gain a small readership on campus. It was hectic, but we couldn’t have done it without our friends Katy, Serena, and Lily. Those three definitely didn’t ask for their rooms to be turned into writing workshops, but they believed in Her Campus and in us.
Jump ahead to August of 2015 and Her Campus Stony Brook became completely under my control after Sarah decides to transfer. We were always going to do this together and it felt like a fatal blow to something we had worked so hard on. I knew I had to keep going and create something on campus I could be proud of. Her Campus was about amplifying voices of those looking for a platform and I couldn’t let my fellow Seawolves down.
I posted fliers around campus, spread mini info sheets around the SAC and the Union (RIP), wrote the URL on classroom whiteboards, and spoke about Her Campus in my English classes. Soon, students started reaching out to me and asking how to get involved. With every email inquiry and new writer addition, I was inspired and moved that someone cared about my mission. Our team grew from 5 to 15 and beyond with writers coming from all departments of the school. I was very clear with the writers from the start that I want to publish articles surrounding everything they are passionate about, whether it’s beauty advice one week and social justice the next, every article mattered because the website encompassed the experience of a woman at SBU. I wanted to tell everyone’s story.
Along came Helen in October of 2015 as our first social media director to completely change the path and impact of Her Campus Stony Brook. She was the solution to a problem I didn’t even know I had. At that time, I was running the website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by myself. Since writing articles wasn’t her thing, she wanted to get involved with our social media. Helen quickly became a genius in her marketing of online content and the selection of future social media correspondents to increase our presence among the student body. Helen created Instagram series, facilitated every online giveaway, effortlessly promoted our Her Campus Survival Kit products, and interacted with other SBU clubs and Her Campus chapters to gain attention. She changed the way I looked at our potential Her Campus influence at SBU to create more opportunities for students to get involved. I’m so grateful to the social media team’s dedication to creating new and engaging content every day.
I cried when we became an official Stony Brook organization in the Spring of 2016. With the addition of tabling, team meetings, small and largescale events, Her Campus became a known entity at Stony Brook, and not just because we gave away free lotions and mascaras. Her Campus has become bigger than me. With every article view, every Instagram follow, every greeting at a table, I wanted to burst with gratitude because someone cared about something I created. I can’t thank Her Campus enough for giving me such a strong purpose at Stony Brook. As I now graduate from SBU and move onto the world of publishing, I take with me lessons about myself as a writer, a leader, and a woman from over the last four years that are irreplaceable.
To the amazing and ever-changing team of writers, you inspired me every day. Your honesty, expertise, humility, bravery, wit, and talent were the reasons I stuck around as editor-in-chief. I looked forward to every Sunday afternoon when I uploaded articles filled with little pieces of yourselves to share with the world. I’m so proud of your passions for writing and hope they never go away.
Thank you to Dorothy, Helen, Michelle, Jasmin, and Hailey for working with me as my last Her Campus Stony Brook eboard this semester. I will always remember your dedication and skill in everything you do and I wish you all the brightest futures imaginable.
To all the Her Campus Stony Brook members over the years, thank you for trusting me as your president, even when I asked too much of you. I appreciate every minute you dedicated to the team, the website, and our social media accounts. To the future members of Her Campus Stony Brook, I want you to know the legacy you are a part of. I hope your impact on the organization continues to foster a growing community at SBU.
Tell the stories that matter. Believe in your voice.
Thank you, Her Campus.
Sincerely,
Shannon Blackmer
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Her Campus Stony Brook
April 2015-May 2018