During this weekend’s Super Bowl game, one of the most impactful ads featured the hashtag #LikeAGirl. The ad asked a question, “When did doing something ‘like a girl’ become an insult?”—with a goal of upending harmful stereotypes about girls that damage their self-esteem and self-confidence. The ad pushes the viewer to turn the stereotype around, making “like a girl” an affirmation of strength and achievement. For example, during the game, I tweeted that “My daughter swims like a girl. My niece golfs like a girl. My sister runs a lab like a girl.” I was not alone. As they say, the campaign went viral.
I was reflecting on this during Monday’s snow day, which I used to catch up on a stack of reading: research related to community college transfer challenges, dual generation approaches to addressing intergenerational poverty, and the growth of impact investment. One of the through lines in much of my reading was the way in which negative perceptions about community college students limit theirself-esteem and self-confidence. It leads our students—and those around them—to lower expectations, to narrow their horizons, and (in the very worst cases) to just give up. It takes away their hope, their inspiration—no matter how hard we work to be inspiring every day.
My thought: wouldn’t it be wonderful if we began a campaign to counter the stereotypes so many have of our students: a #LikeATribune campaign. It would encourage our students to see exactly how high they could and should set their aspirations.
· “I was Lieutenant Governor of New York #LikeATribune.”
· “I am CEO of a Fortune 100 Company #LikeATribune.”
· “I am a college Vice President #LikeATribune.”
· “I am a school Superintendent #LikeATribune.”
· “I am a professor of Political Science #LikeATribune.”
· “I am a junior at Yale #LikeATribune.”
· “I am a scientist at NASA #LikeATribune.”
We have over 450,000 alumni. So many success stories: some we know, far too many we don’t. Each of these stories is a light that could brighten the path for another. What #LikeATribune story would you tell? Share it on the blog
Anne M. Kress
Office of the President
02/04/2015 |