Campus Celebrity: Leah Mendelson

Give her soup & bread or give her death! Meet this week’s hilarious frisbee playing and arboretum frolicking Campus Celebrity, Leah Mendelson! This celeb gives us all the deats on the upcoming As Told By Vaginas show, lets us in on an important study abroad tip, and tells us about her Conn bucket list, guilty pleasures, and more. We are wishing her the best of luck as she tries to slow dance with Officer Silver…

Class Year: 2015, baby !

Hometown: Memphis, Tennessee

Major: American Studies with a concentration in politics, policy, and society

Extracurricular activities: Ultimate Frisbee, As Told by Vaginas, Eclipse

Can you tell us about Conn Coll’s As Told by Vaginas (ATBV) and your involvement?

As Told by Vaginas is a homegrown initiative whose mission is to share experiences from the woman’s perspective and to raise as much money as possible for Safe Futures, an astounding organization that provides a plethora of resources for people who have been impacted by domestic abuse and sexual assault.

I’ll start by saying that I am so proud to be a part of ATBV. I am on the reading committee, so I had the unique pleasure of reading through numerous anonymous submissions. Many of the women involved in ATBV were also involved with the Vagina Monologues. While the Vagina Monologues have been, and continue to be extremely important to many people (if I were to try to relay the impact of the Vagina Monologues on my life and identity, we’d be sitting here for hours), many people felt that it was time to bring about an initiative more directly representative of women within the Conn community. So, should you choose to attend the show (which you should!), you’re going to be hearing your peers’ stories. And contrary to what a few people think, these stories aren’t all about vaginas. These are the stories of people who in some way have a relationship with a vagina (be it having one, wanting one, not wanting one, ignoring that you have one… etc.), though that’s not at all explicit in every story. The stories are from people who have at some point identified as being a woman, and what happiness, fear, discovery, questioning, oppression, and liberation might look like from the woman’s perspective. We’ve maintained the anonymity of the stories to try to push this mission further — we hope that audience members don’t view the monologues simply as the stories of the people on stage, but rather are able imagine that these stories could apply to their own selves, loved ones, or peers (‘cuz they have!! The people who wrote these monologues sit near you in Harris! You pass them in Blaustein!).

There’s valid opposition to ATBV– you may object to the name for several reasons, you may object to the exclusivity of the mission, the advertising posters, any number of things. And that’s another beautiful thing about ATBV– this is our own grassroots mission, and it will be restructured, renamed, and reimagined from year to year… so just get involved!

Any which way, I am so proud of our ATBV leadership team. I’m so proud of all of the women — all of the amazing women I pass on the campus everyday who inspire these stories — who decided it was time their stories were heard, and I feel truly honored to facilitate this cause.

What is your favorite club or group that you have been a part of?

There’s a special place in my heart for the incredible hodge-podge that is Conn College Ultimate Frisbee. The culture of the sport itself is really high spirited and a lot of fun to play, but man oh man do I love all the weirdos that make up the team. I’ve grown so much with this band of beautiful, smelly goons. 

Can you tell us about your travel abroad experience?

I studied abroad in Buenos Aires. I learned a ton and had a lot of really wonderful experiences. Also, a good amount of frustrating and questionable experiences… I definitely grew a lot. That being said, I’d generally suggest studying a bit of the native language before going to study abroad (I did not do this, hence the frustrations).

Have you had an awesome internship experience?

This past summer I did my CELS internship at the International Bureau of Education in Geneva, Switzerland. I learned that I’m more in favor of local education initiatives rather than international, but I did get to go to Europe for the first time.

Do you have any guilty pleasures?

Toby Keith and Fall Out Boy (this would be the collaboration of the century)

Do you have a personal motto that you live by?

Give me soup & bread or give me death!

What’s your spirit animal?

Barnacle (I like chillin’ on rocks with my friends)

What is your favorite thing to do on campus?

Laying/ walking/ dancing/ frolicking in the Arboretum

Do you have a favorite class or professor taken at Conn?

The professors at Conn who have impacted me most are probably Professor MaryAnne Borrelli in the Government department, Professor Lauren Anderson in Education, Professor Leo Garofalo in History and the CCSRE, Professor Sheetal Chhabria in History, and Professor Shani Collins-Achille in the Dance department.

All of these professors have really challenged me to develop a critical eye, and they all do a wonderful job of providing resources, guidance, and general inspiration. If you have the chance to take a course with any of these professors, I’d highly recommend it.

Anything left on your Conn bucket list?

Slow dance with Officer Silver.

Any post-grade plans?

Melt into oblivion.

What will you miss most about Conn after graduation?

Frisbee practice on Chapel green a.ka. watching the sun set behind the Arboretum while some of the people I love most are just frolicking around in front of me.

I’m also really going to miss having such easy access to so many amazing faculty and staff members.

Also really going to miss unlimited oranges and bananas and hours-long meals with my best friends.

How do you feel about being Campus Celebrity?

When I got the email requesting my Celebri-dom I was with my dear friend Mattie Barber-Bockelman…she can vouch that I literally floated out of my seat in a fit of pure euphoria.

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