At the Provence Café in Hillsboro Village, and the Iris Café in Peabody Library, there exists a menu item that has recently become a cause of concern: the sugar-free, non-fat Vandy Girl Latte.
Type in “Vandy Girl” on urbandictionary.com, and you might not be too shocked at what you find. “Spoiled” is common, so is “wears sundresses.” But the most common descriptors of Vandy Girls may shock you: “skinny,” “weight-obsessed,” “anorexic.”
Some may find the connection between the drink’s ingredients and these stereotypes humorous, but to the 1 in 5 Vanderbilt women currently struggling with an eating disorder, this drink perpetuates a stereotype that has driven them towards an unhealthy lifestyle. Dr. Lisa Lorenzen from the PCC commented on this issue: “Low self-esteem, loss of control, and social comparison are important factors that cause low body confidence and disordered eating… [and] the Vanderbilt campus seems hyper-focused and hypersensitive about their bodies and how they compare to each other.”
The second semester of the HOD program features a class called Small Group Behavior, in which students are asked to fix a problem on campus in a semester-long project. This year, seven students decided to finally take a step towards a healthier campus by changing the name of the Vandy Girl Latte, in hopes of bringing awareness to the greater issue at hand. These students were Jamie Conn, Ryan Eisenman, Jaclyn Goldman, Elizabeth Little, Olivia Tomares, Jane Winkelreid, and me, Maja Majewski.
First, we conducted interviews at the Iris Café, posing as customer satisfaction researchers. When students were asked to identify items that stuck out to them on the menu, an overwhelming majority chose the Vandy Girl, saying, “Vandy Girl is interesting… Well, the fact that it’s sugar-free might mean something of the campus culture.” Another student added, “This just advertises how Vanderbilt people are weight-conscious.” One person even went so far as to protest the drink: “I purposefully don’t order that here because I think it shows a negative stereotype.” It was clear to us that the Iris Café customers recognized the problem within the name.
We then conducted an online survey, which showed that 71% of students at Vanderbilt know someone with an eating disorder, and that most students claim to have changed their eating habits since coming to the school. After realizing that this was indeed an issue of concern for the student body, we decided to contact Provence and arrange a meeting with its manager. We shared our findings and received an enthusiastic and thankful response from the restaurant, which agreed to immediately change the name of both the Vandy Girl and Vandy Guy drinks (currently, those drinks are still in the process of being renamed, but they will be back with new names shortly!).
Now, when you walk into the Iris Café or Provence, take a look at the menu- no longer will you be constantly reminded of such a serious problem on our campus. Check out either of these delicious eateries to see the new name soon!