For the last year, California Alpha Lauren Newby and two of her Pi Phis sisters, Cayla Pettinato and Clemence Couteau, have worked with The Body Positive organization, which teaches people how to overcome conflicts with their bodies so they can lead happier, more productive lives. Through their work, the women created the Stanford student organization, Students Supporting Body Positivity. The program is designed to promote awareness and education surrounding beauty, body image and eating issues. Body Positive leaders, who are students trained by The Body Positive, host bi-monthly discussions on the Stanford University campus where students can discuss, learn about and receive peer support for eating and body image issues.

“One in four college women will have some kind of eating disorder,” said Lauren. “The more awareness we can bring, the more we can change the culture around it. “

This fall, Lauren helped launch the “This is Beauty” campaign on the Stanford campus. Students were asked to take a Polaroid picture of themselves and caption it with “My beauty is … ” The photos were taped on posters and hung around campus. “My favorite was from a 12-year-old boy who wrote that his beauty was his strength and compassion,” Lauren said.

“Our goal in creating this organization is that more women realize they are not alone in dealing with body issues,” said Lauren. “It shouldn’t be a taboo topic. I want to bring an openness to campus.”