Jen Tanenbaum ’12

         Jen Tanenbaum fondly remembers her days as a Girl Scout: the troupe meetings, working towards different badges and of course, the famous cookies. Fast-forward to today, and Jen is still dedicated to the Girl Scout’s cause. This week’s Campus Celebrity partnered her sorority, Alpha Phi, with the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains to participate in Stop! In the Name of Love.

         Stop! In the Name of Love is a program created by Vermont Girl Scout Leader Emilee Drobbin. “It helps girls become aware of images of females in popular media including music, teaches them basic self-defense, and alerts them about potential danger signals when dating”, explains the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains website. Jen Tanenbaum, and her fellow Alpha Phi Sorority sisters, helped foster the program here at UNH and submitted the program to the Newman’s Own Foundation Campus Community Service Challenge. Her Campus interviewed Jen and asked her about the service challenge.
 

1. How did you first get involved with the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains? I first got involved with the GSGWM through Alpha Phi’s participation in a community service pilot program. The program involved finding a community service project that dealt with women’s issues. Through researching places to complete our project, we came across the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains. Since then, we have completed two successful programs with the girls and I also completed an internship with the organization.

2. What sort of programs does Alpha Phi do with the Girl Scouts?As of right now, Alpha Phi does two programs with the Girl Scouts. Our spring program, Turn Beauty Inside Out, addresses the portrayal of women in the media. In this one day program, we have different stations set up for the girls to partake in different activities, such as looking at advertisements, listening to songs, and creating their own ads. Our fall program is called Stop! In the Name of Love. This program deals with dating violence. The three-session program includes speakers from local organizations, as well as self-defense classes. Both programs have been extremely successful!

3. What is the Newman’s Own Campus Community Service Challenge?The Newman’s Own Campus Community Challenge was created to promote student service within the communities of the America East Conference. Each school in the conference nominated a student organization that partnered with some other organization, to represent their school in the challenge. UNH nominated Alpha Phi’s partnership with the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains. Each student organization that participated was awarded at least a $5,000 grant for their project from the Newman’s Own Foundation. The top three schools won $10,000, $15,000, and $20,000. UNH was lucky enough to receive the $10,000 grant in the third place position.

4. What did you win and how are you planning on using the prize money?We won a $10,000 grant that will be used to expand and improve our Stop! In the Name of Love program. We hope to possibly spread the program to incorporate our Dartmouth Alpha Phi chapter. The Girl Scouts is such an important program and we as a sorority are honored to work with them and help educate the women of tomorrow. 

   (photo: www.cohase.org)
   www. girlsscoutsgwm.org