Not my campus, but HER campus
By Ailing Chang, CONTRIBUTOR
The first meeting to address the fight for women’s rights was held in 1848. While the fight for equality has been going on for almost 171 years, male-dominated fields of work are still abundant in today’s world. Thankfully, there are a select few groups out there still fighting the good fight, one of them being HER Campus.
HER Campus, a leading media and marketing brand for women enrolled in college, has opened a chapter at California State University, East Bay. This women-led club has over 360 chapters, having started with 45 U.S. chapters. The online media outlet works to empower women by providing content from female creators in journalism and marketing.
There is a large gender disparity in who is reporting the news. Women only make up 37.7 percent of journalists, while men make up 62.3 percent, according to a 2017 study by the Women’s Media Center.
The newest chapter at CSUEB has expanded from six founding members to 25 active members.
“I felt that there wasn’t enough female-oriented clubs on campus despite making up over half of the school’s population,” said Destiny Raybon, president of HER Campus at CSUEB. “Also there weren’t many that pertained to the communication field in general.”
While HER Campus is marketed as a women’s media club, it is still inclusive to the whole campus. Although the club’s members are predominantly women, all walks of life are welcome.
“Our organization welcomes everyone,’’ states Raybon. “The content created through HER Campus, however, is catered to anyone who identifies as a woman.”
On HER Campus’s official site, many of their previous members have transitioned to prestigious jobs and internships ranging from Glamour to The Washington Post. The CSUEB chapter equips its members with the skill sets that they would need for the workforce.
In only a month in launching, the CSUEB chapter has had an average of 285 users in online activity, with the potential to reach more users in the future through campus events and digital content.