For many years, confidently embracing your natural hair has become something difficult to do as criticism for wearing your hair in its natural state is still prevalent.
Organizations like Campus Curlz, they are creating a community that teaches men and women to embrace their natural hair in order to feel more confident and to inspire others to do the same.
Sophomore Media Studies and Production major India Green is the president of Campus Curlz. She chartered Temple’s chapter, which officially became a campus organization in September 2017.
Campus Curlz is relatively new and was originally founded at Hampton University by Nia Wellman and Kiyanna Monroe in January 2017. According to the official Campus Curlz website, the organization’s main mission is to “enhance, educate, and uplift those on campus and in the community through educational support and service.”
Today, there are Campus Curlz chapters spread across 20 college and universities that are working endlessly to spread the organization’s positive message.
Green first heard about the organization last spring during her search for an internship. While she was on the lookout to obtain an internship with a potential social media management position, she came across Campus Curlz on social media.
Green, who is friends with co-founder Nia Wellman, inquired about more information of the organization and how she could possibly charter a chapter for Temple’s campus.
After receiving helpful information and tips on how to do so from the co-founder herself, Campus Curlz was successfully established right before Temple Fest at the beginning of the school year.
“We didn’t have a table at Temple Fest, but we still made sure to get out there, talk to people and really get the word out about the organization,” Green said.
After reaching out to people in person as well as through their growing social media presence, the turnout at their first welcome meeting was astonishing. Green refers to their first welcome meeting as one of her most memorable moments while being part of the club so far.
“I didn’t expect that big of a turnout. We were so new and I didn’t think that the word would get around so much, but that really reflected in our welcome meeting,” Green said.
A typical general body meeting for Campus Curlz is usually set up as a Q&A type of format, and each meeting has a different theme. Some themes they have had in the past have been on the maintenance of natural hair as well as how to determine your hair porosity.
“We’ll sometimes have hair demos, and after the demo, people will break into groups and do it themselves. We play games, hand out samples, and just engage in fun ways to learn and retain your natural hair,” Green said.
Aside from the meetings, Campus Curlz has had numerous events and fundraisers so far, and have even more planned for the rest of the spring semester.
They’ve had braiding workshops and invited guest speakers to discuss and give advice about their careers (some of which are Temple alumni). They’ve also collaborated with Temple University’s Black Public Relations Society to discuss ethnic hair in the workplace, and more.
Coming up, Campus Curlz will be hosting an event called ‘Brand Like a Girl,’ which will celebrate owners on campus and in the area.
Aside from helping each other, Campus Curlz also takes pride in giving back to the community through community service. They’ve taken part in MLK’s day of service, hosted toiletry drives, and have participated in the Philly AIDs Walk.
“In the future, we plan on working with different schools, trying to help kids who are younger to learn how to embrace their curls at a young age,” Green said.
Even though Campus Curlz has only been around for a little over a year, the growth in the development of their campus chapters have been immense.
“Campus Curlz is important to me because when I was growing up I didn’t see a lot of women wearing their natural hair. I’ve had natural hair since forever. Being apart of Campus Curlz, it is my job to make sure it is being represented. I care very deeply about the representation and I want to be that person pushing it out so people could be more comfortable with who they are,” Green said.
In such a short amount of time, Temple University’s Campus Curlz has done so much. Green has professionally developed through her involvement in a sense that she has had plenty of opportunities to network with brands and help members of the club get jobs and internships. We are looking forward to following the achievements of Campus Curlz TU in the future!
To stay in touch with Campus Curlz, you can follow them on Instagram @campuscurlz.templeu and Twitter @campuscurlzTU