Body Positive, a student lead organization at Samford University, is dedicated to supporting students by actively developing positive body image and lifestyle choices.
Skylar Thornton, the president of Body Positive, explained the thought behind their mission statement.
“It’s a fancy way of saying that we are a club that wants to be there for our members in the physical, mental and spiritual sense as well,” Thornton said. “We want to create different resources for different people. If someone feels as though they need special kinds of help, we have people on campus and contacts that are therapists and physicians who we can help people reach out to if they need that.”
In order to connect members with different resources, Body Positive partners with multiple organizations across campus such as DREAM and SDA, Student Dietetics Association. Body Positive meets on the second Tuesday of each month, while SDA meets on the first Tuesday of every month. Thornton hopes that members will be able to attend both club meetings.
“SDA can help you more with nutrition and Body Positive is going to help you a lot more with the mental aspects of body image,” Thornton said.
The other student organization that is currently partnered with Body Positive is the disability advocacy group, DREAM. Body Positive and DREAM are going to co host a Netflix watch party on Oct. 5.
“We’re trying to keep our members as excited as possible during the current virtual situation that we’re in,” Thornton said. “The Netflix party is going to be something tangible for the members to feel like they’re a part of something.”
COVID-19 has changed a lot about Body Positive, but Thornton cites social media as a game changer in this new virtual era. While in the past the club relied on in-person activities, this year’s outreach has shifted through revamping social media accounts, creating sticker giveaways, and hosting Instagram takeovers.
“Because last year was more in-person, and this year is more about tech and social media, it’s all about finding that sweet spot where we can get people excited and able to show up,” Thornton said.
Body Positive typically has at least one big event per semester. Last year, this event was Smash the Scale, featuring a scale and a few sledgehammers, as an opportunity for people to symbolically take out their frustrations. Due to COVID-19, the club’s big event has been more difficult to schedule.
“I don’t want to put people at risk or have people feel unsafe, so I want to do a Zoom call with a speaker,” Thornton said. “I am hoping fingers crossed that I’m going to be able to get it to count as convo credit, but if not, I feel like it could at least draw people that didn’t know they wanted to be a part of Body Positive, or to at least start thinking about it.”
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