An MU student was awarded a 2013 Confidence U award from the Kappa Delta Sorority national organization for her campaign to help girls and young women of low self-esteem find ways to improve their self-image.
Social work graduate student Kelsey Lammy received a $1,000 grant for her Raising Our Self-Esteem (ROSE) campaign, which hosted workshops at Columbia elementary schools and at MU.
Lammy said she helps solve self-esteem issues for girls at all different ages.
The award, established in 2010, is provided through the Confidence Coalition, an organization created by Kappa Delta Sorority in 2009 to raise awareness about issues related to lack of confidence among young women.
Ninety percent of all women want to change at least one aspect of their physical appearance, and 75 percent of females with low self-esteem engage in negative activities, such as disordered eating, bullying, smoking or drinking, according to the Confidence Coalition website.
“We believe that there are lots of issues happening on college campuses that affect young women’s self confidence,” said Heidi Roy, Kappa Delta National Organization Director of Communications. “We wanted to provide funding so that campuses were able to address those issues and build confidence in their collegians.”
The ROSE campaign, a discussion-based program, was run in collaboration with the MU Wellness Resource Center.
The Wellness Resource Center nominated Lammy for the award. Nominations are submitted to Kappa Delta National Organization and undergo a comprehensive selection process. Projects must include a clear strategy to engage women on campus and a specific program delivery plan.
“The ROSE (Raising Our Self Esteem) campaign targets women by helping them understand the underlining causes of their low self-esteem, the ways to improve their self esteem and the importance of helping other women raise their self-esteem”, according to the Wellness Resource Center website.
Kappa Delta also offers a $5,000 Confidence U award to college Panhellenic offices that provide confidence-building programming on their campus. Ten universities, including Duke University, Dartmouth College and Ohio State University, received the award this year.
“We were thrilled by the overwhelming response from so many universities that want to make a positive impact on the lives of women on their campuses,” Kappa Delta Sorority National President Beth Langford said in a press release.
Lammy said she started this campaign because she thinks many girls struggle with confidence growing up, and many lack a support system to help them overcome their issues.
“It just needed to be addressed in a way that it became something that we talk about, we can discuss and we don’t have to be afraid to tell people how we’re feeling,” she said.
