The Allison Community Room was full of groups celebrating body positivity on Monday, and attendees milled about a spread of tables that offered games, resources and condoms. 

The Love Your Body Week Kickoff Soirée was co-sponsored by Psi Chi, Psychology Club and the Psychology Department on Feb. 11. The event included a pad collection drive, poetry readings, dance and drawing.

Dance Theatre Group, the Women’s & Gender Resource Center (WGRC), Sigma Lamda Beta and sororities were among the slew of organizations running tables promoting body and sex positivity. Students could talk with club representatives and draw the things they love about their bodies on posters.

There were also a handful of performances including some from the Exiled Poetry Society and Anwar Bellydance.

Sam Gerhard ’19, president of Psychology Club, organized the event this year, choosing to take part in Love Your Body Week after seeing its success in previous years. “I looked up to the psychology faculty [Associate Professor of Psychology Suman Ambwani and Michele Ford, lecturer in Psychology] who were taking part in the Love Your Body Week committee…It was such a fun week and I wanted to be a larger part of it,” she stated in a written message. 

The goal this year, Gerhard said, was to “increase diversity in student organizations and performers especially with an increase in male presence.” Psychology Club Vice President Maddie Albro ’21 said the club wanted to “begin Love Your Body Week in a fun way that is celebratory and multifaceted with many different clubs and organizations coming together and a diverse group of performances.”

The majority of attendees and club representatives at the soirée were women, and Sigma Lamda Beta was the only fraternity to show up and run a table at the event. 

“We think Love your Body Week is the perfect opportunity for everyone on campus to take a moment and reflect upon their well-being,” said Mariel Arias ’19, scholarship chair of Sigma Lamba Beta. “Through our participation we wanted to show support for our community and think that more fraternities, clubs, and sports teams should take part in love your body week.”

The Psychology Department, club and honors society sponsored the event, but other campus organizations promoted separate events related to Love Your Body Week as well. Sophie Ackert ’21, communications and outreach coordinator of the WGRC, promoted the center’s Pad Pantry donation collection project. “The most exciting part for me was we got to start our… donation collection. We got some cash donations along with some menstrual products, and all that we collect in the next couple of weeks will be going to the YWCA,” she said. 

Gerhard said she thinks Love Your Body Week is important because it draws together members of the Dickinson community to support one another in an inclusive environment. “It spreads an important message around campus while encouraging others to get involved in a variety of different ways. I love the diversity in the events that appeal to a number of different students on campus and really incorporates everyone,” she said.