Her Campus is one of 10 student-run media outlets at Ohio University, but it is the only one geared toward women. From entertainment to beauty to mental health, Her Campus is a magazine for women navigating college, written by women experiencing similar things.
Her Campus is an international organization with over 270 campus chapters worldwide. It started in 2009 with three Harvard students running a publication geared toward college women. They later turned this into Her Campus Media, the larger company behind Her Campus.
At OU, Her Campus covers entertainment content, opinion pieces and events around Athens, along with women-centric topics such as managing womanhood in your twenties, relationship advice and beauty trends.
Lizzi Montanti, a junior studying journalism, is the editor-in-chief of Her Campus and said she initially joined to continue her passion for writing, but with flexibility.
“I was looking for an organization where I could still write and get published, but it wasn't super high intensity or with strict deadlines,” Montanti said.
Azlyn Lafollette, a senior studying English, is the vice president of Her Campus and already knew about the organization before entering OU.
“One of my dance coaches whenever she was in college, she was in it, and she loved it, and she talked about it all the time,” Lafollette said. “Whenever I was looking at different orgs to get involved in, I had seen this, and I was familiar with it.”
Montanti said writers submit their works throughout the week and stories get published each Monday on their website. On average, around five articles are published on the site each week.
Gigi Redinger, a senior studying journalism strategic communications, is the social media manager for Her Campus and said being in an all women’s organization fosters a unique bond between members and creates a safe space at meetings and social events.
“We want to promote this idea of community among women, especially in today's modern age with everything going on,” Redinger said. “It's a safe space for everybody to come share their ideas, brainstorm articles and just spend quality time with each other and hopefully create long-lasting friendships.”
The organization encourages writers to produce content about whatever they want and promotes flexibility to keep the passion for writing alive within its staff.
Montanti said she likes to write mostly about music or local events around Athens and Lafollette enjoys writing about pop culture and entertainment. Redinger likes to write articles about her personal experiences.
“I transferred here my freshman year, so I wrote about my experience with that,” Redinger said. “I wrote about my experience in my last two internships I had over the summer, hopefully for readers to, on a more personal level, to understand if they're in that same situation.”
Outside of writing, the organization meets biweekly Tuesdays at 5 p.m. in Schoonover Center. According to Montanti, the group usually hosts brainstorming sessions where they lay out what content will soon go out and ideas for future articles.
Her Campus also hosts social events for its members, including pumpkin painting, t-shirt making and an upcoming date party Nov. 21 in collaboration with CHAARG.
“We do try to bring the girls together and bond in that way,” Montanti said. “Especially since it's all online, we try and make the social part of it more emphasized so we can stick together and make it a meaningful organization.”
Although the publication is entirely online, the strong connections built in Her Campus are at the foundation of every article. Redinger said she looks forward to the collaboration aspect of the meetings.
“When I actually started going to meetings, (I found) how inclusive and welcoming it is, and because there's less pressure on the authors and writers, it doesn't feel so much as like a class or responsibility,” Redinger said. “You look forward to writing articles and sharing your ideas with the people in the organization.”
Lafollette said she appreciates Her Campus for helping her find her writing voice and values her leadership position for giving her well-rounded journalism experience.
Her Campus is open to all majors, and its atmosphere of like-minded women curates articles rooted in a passion for writing.
“You're just there to be creative, and write, and have fun, and meet girlfriends or whoever,” Redinger said. “I think that's the best part that I enjoy about it, is it's just a space for people to come together, and write, and brainstorm and be creative.”
