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HCQU Co-Founders Leigh & Marissa

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Molly Zimnoch
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Leigh Maneri
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Quinnipiac chapter.

HerCampus.com/Quinnipiac has quickly become a must-read for the young women of Quinnipiac University. Since being founded by seniors Leigh Maneri and Marissa Kameno in November 2010, the web site has earned credibility and popularity among the female student population.

HerCampus.com is the brainchild of three young Harvard alumnae. In September 2009, Stephanie Kaplan, Windsor Hanger, and Annie Wang launched the online magazine, which they marketed as, “The Collegiette’s Guide to Life.”

These three entrepreneurs won the i3 Innovation Challenge, Harvard University’s business plan competition, in March 2009. The competition is designed to develop, showcase, and reward innovative business ventures with financial assistance and free office space.

This online magazine individualizes its content by campus with established branches at more than 120 schools across the country. It features articles on style, health, love, life, and career advice that focus solely on the needs of college women.

Kameno and Maneri decided to found the HCQU branch together after seeing a listing on ED2010.com, a website for young writers and editors who are looking to break into the magazine industry.  

As Co-Founders and Campus Correspondents, they drafted a proposal including marketing plans, biographies, and resumes. The QU branch was approved a few days later and the girls were given a month to gather staff, produce material, market the branch, and prepare the site for its launch.


The Quinnipiac branch of HerCampus publishes 1-2 original news articles, and features a new Campus Celebrity, Campus Cutie, Photoblog, and Campus Poll each week. There are three blogs, which are exclusive to HCQU, and those are updated twice weekly.

The blogs are each written by a different Quinnipiac student and provide readers with advice in a various fields. “To Thine Own Self Be True” is a single girl’s guide to life at QU, “The Room Service” provides college-friendly recipes and reviews of anything food-related, and “QU How To” outlines the best ways to navigate different facets of Quinnipiac life.

Kameno and Maneri have gained exceptional experience from their time at the HCQU helm.

“We were ecstatic when we had 400 page views and now we have over 25,000,” Kameno said. “I really enjoyed starting up our own business. Now I understand how you can put a lot of work into something but unless you have the public relations skills to get your product out there, it will never get off the ground and become successful.”

Above: The homepage of HerCampus on the day of the HCQU launch! 

QU senior and public relations major, Megan Simpson, served as publicity chair during HCQU’s inaugural year.
“She’s been great at updating our social media outlets, and posting things from the national site when our material has lacked,” Maneri said.

When asked if they had any advice for the Campus Correspondents of the 2011-2012 year, they offered this:
“Word of mouth is the most powerful form of PR you can possibly have,” Maneri explained. “If something’s going to gain popularity, you’re going to need the support of your friends and a solid network of people to guide and help you.”

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Molly is a senior print journalism major and psychology minor at Quinnipiac University. She enjoys cooking, baking, reading, and spending as much time on the beach as possible. Molly loves to travel, and recently brought home a dog, Kodiak, from Rincon, Puerto Rico in January 2011. She is an aspiring food writer for publications such as Gourmet, and Fine Cooking. In preparation for this career, Molly spent the summer of 2011 working on an organic farm, and hopes to attend the Culinary Institute of America after graduating from QU in the spring. Having been a transfer to Quinnipiac in the fall of her sophomore year, Molly knows the importance of being outgoing and friendly, and hopes to make many wonderful memories during her last year in Hamden. 
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Leigh is a senior print journalism major and sociology minor at Quinnipiac University. She enjoys traveling, writing, photography, watching Sex and the City, going out on the town (of Hamden) and laughing with, and at her housemates. In the Summer of 2009, she interned in Los Angeles at Genlux Magazine and Red Light Public Relations. She studied in Barcelona in the Spring of 2010 where she learned the true importance of life from the Catalan people. She is a member of Alpha Chi Omega and was a recruitment counselor during formal sorority recruitment in February. It has been rumored that due to her consistent honesty, she has no secrets of her own. Leigh loves her university and is having the time of her life as a senior. She has only had a few minor freak-outs about her upcoming graduation to date.