Girl Power

Jackie Dupont '04, a volunteer-turned-employee, shows off a "beautiful woman collage" created by local middle-school girls.

Some girls fight viciously amongst themselves. The media overwhelms them with negative images. Friends change—sometimes daily. Middle school is an awkward, confusing time. But Hardy Girls coalition groups offer a safe place to talk.

Colby students become group leaders, or muses, through the local nonprofit Hardy Girls Healthy Women. They facilitate discussions in girls’ coalition groups in middle and elementary schools in the Waterville area, helping girls find their strengths. “A real key component is not just sitting and talking about how life sucks, but engaging girls about how they can take control and enact change,” said Jackie Dupont ’04, who led groups while a Colby student and now coordinates them as a Hardy Girls employee.

At a recent girls’ group, Meredith Lawler ’09 asked seventh and eighth graders to mention one unique quality they feel they have. “There’s nothing unique about me” and “I don’t know” were a couple of responses. This is exactly the kind of thinking the Hardy Girls coalition groups hope to reverse by initiating open discussions, engaging girls in making “beautiful woman collages,” and demonstrating that in real life Barbie wouldn’t be able to walk.

This semester 22 Colby students are running 11 girls’ groups. Lyn Mikel Brown, an education professor at Colby, cofounder of Hardy Girls, and author of Girlfighting, is a key force behind these groups and the young women running them. Students commonly get involved through Brown’s course called Women, Girls and the Culture of Education, and many continue with their groups after the class is through.

It does seem that once people get involved they stick with it. As Hardy Girls cofounder Karen Heck ’74 put it, “Stop in and be a one-time volunteer, but you might just end up staying forever.”

• Extracurricular