By Katelyn Devine
Correspondent
Although this campus may be smaller than those of other schools, navigating life here at the College can be confusing at times for a girl. Balancing successful academics, enjoying a happy social life and staying healthy and fit are no easy feat.
Luckily, female students can look forward to the launch of Her Campus: TCNJ, the College’s own branch of the online magazine Her Campus, coming on Feb. 15.
Her Campus features content catering to the female college student population through both national content and school-specific features.
According to Hercampus.com, the magazine is “a Collegiette’s guide to life.”
Jess Corry, junior journalism and communication studies double major, and Alexa Rozzi, sophomore journalism major, have prepared for the College’s branch by recruiting student writers from all majors and promoting the launch.
“No one is really providing an outlet for the voice of the collegiette. She is your best friend, your girlfriend, the girl who sits next to you in Calculus, you name it,” Corry said in an e-mail.
The College’s branch of the online magazine features seven categories — News, Campus Celebrity, Campus Cutie, Photo Blog, Blog, Poll and Events.
As explained on the “Meet the Founders” section of Hercampus.com, Stephanie Kaplan, Windsor Hanger and Annie Wang met as undergraduates at Harvard College, and began the site to address a void in the media, specifically catering to the interests of college-age females.
This site has grown since its original launch in 2009, with branches at over 100 colleges and universities across the country.
“It’s the future of media and I believe Her Campus is leading the way,” Corry said.
Corry found her inspiration to launch Her Campus at the College through the magazine writing course taught by professor Kathleen Webber, which she had taken during the spring semester of 2010. Webber also serves as an advisor for the College’s branch.
Although intrigued by how much she enjoyed Webber’s class, Corry was struck by the lack of having an outlet to use the skills she had learned in the class.
“Here at (the College) we have a lot of great student publications, but we wanted to open the field for students who wanted to try their hand at magazine writing specifically for the college female audience,” she said.
Because of the online nature of Her Campus, Cory, Rozzi and the Her Campus team face a dilemma of publicizing the new publication.
Just as the Her Campus magazine is online, they plan to promote through online means as well, through social networking websites Facebook and Twitter.
“We can’t write for the (the College’s) collegiette unless she is reading — it’s a two way street and we need her,” Corry said.
Samantha Levy and other students are already anticipating the launch.
“I’ve been reading articles on Her Campus since I found out about it through my friend at another college,” Levy, freshman nursing major, said. “I’m definitely looking forward to reading our branch.”
“I’ve never seen a magazine with this niche that has been so successful in reaching out to college campuses across the United States,” Corry said. “It’s like a sisterhood of writers, each giving voice to the collegiette at her school.”
