Celebrating the Beautiful U

Keene State College hosted the fifth annual Project U Fashion Show in the Mabel Brown Room of the L.P. Young Student Center on Feb. 23.

The fashion show, hosted by the Center for Health and Wellness, differed from most runway shows mainly because the models were not showing off a particular designer’s clothing.

Instead, the show featured students and staff who strutted down the runway showing off their bodies in an effort to promote positive body image.

Tiffany Mathews, coordinator of wellness education and health services, planned the event with the help of Jennifer Ferrell, coordinator of student activities at KSC.
Mathews said there are many student groups committed to promoting healthy choices that chose to participate in the Project U Fashion Show.

Some of these groups included the Center for Health and Wellness, the Counseling Center, Mentors in Violence Prevention and student dietetic interns.

The organizations had tables set up with giveaways such as t-shirts and plastic water containers. The student dietetic interns made healthy smoothies and an alternative meal, easily accessible to college students. There was also a buffet with appetizers and beverages.

The Center for Health and Wellness set up a table that welcomed people to get a picture taken of a body part that, in their perception, was negative. The goal was to morph that negative into a positive.

Junior Ashley Erickson volunteered and had staff counselor Brenda Esperanza take a picture of her mid-section.

“My stomach may be a little large but it’s just a little more love,” Erickson said.
Other volunteers wrote, “What is ‘junk’ to one person is ‘treasure’ to others.” Another included, “My ears may be small but that doesn’t mean I can’t stand tall.”
Esperanza encouraged students to participate in the activity and said everyone could relate to it.

“All of us are critical about some part of our body,” Esperanza said. The event’s goal was to represent ‘fashion for everybody,” according to Esperanza.

Hosting the fashion show were juniors Eric Kane and Anna Land. For the second year in a row, both hosts brought humor and questions to a night of runway. Kane and Land both said they loved the message portrayed and returned to host a second year because of the great turnout last year.

This year, Kane said there were some interesting contestants that took him by surprise, referring to one man who walked the runway in a cardboard box that read, “Will Work For Pants.”

Other models included sophomore Meghan McHenry, who said her favorite part of her body was her eyes because they’re two different colors.

Junior Whitney DeTurk strutted down the runway and later said her favorite food is celery. DeTurk also included her favorite quote, “The happiest girls are the prettiest girls.”
Model and junior Lyndsay Parnigoni also said her favorite thing about herself was her eyes and added her favorite quote, “Laugh it off.”

Senior Janell Lauria also showed off her body at the fashion show and said her favorite thing about herself is her hair.

Students were not the only ones who walked down the runway. Staff members Mathews and Nathan Gordon, a KSC resident director, also walked the runway. Mathews said her favorite activity was snowboarding and also discussed who her favorite Olympian was. Gordon said his favorite thing about himself is his upbeat personality.

Overall, Mathews said she was happy to see a good turnout and different student groups focusing and getting together to educate peers on nutrition, sexual violence and mental health. Among the main things Mathews said she wanted to emphasize during the fashion show was the importance of having healthy relationships with others and ourselves. Mathews also congratulated participants and models who walked the runway because she acknowledged that it takes a lot of courage to get up in front of the audience.

The theme for the night was to celebrate who you are and to love yourself no matter what. Mathews wanted the message to not only resonate for the night but to “celebrate yourself every day.”

Brittany Murphy can be contacted at bmurphy@keeneequinox.com.