As a member of one of the Trinity sororities, you will have the
opportunity to participate in a very special and unique program, the
Sorority Body Image Program (SBIP). Accomplishing something that no other
sorority system in the nation, local or national, has ever done, Trinity
sororities collectively have taken a leadership role in the area of body
image by implementing the first evidence-based, sustainable eating
disorders prevention program in the country. Members of the Trinity
sororities also have the distinction of designing a program that regularly
contributes to the growing scientific literature on the prevention of
eating disorders. As a result, the SBIP truly embodies many sorority
values by combining service, leadership, and academic achievement.
The
SBIP is overseen by psychology professor Dr. Carolyn Becker, and is
completely staffed by sorority members. It will officially run for the 5th
consecutive year in 2007-2008. This program discusses the pressures our
society currently puts on young women to achieve an unattainable,
extremely thin body figure, and how we as women can resist these
pressures, adopt a healthy lifestyle, and feel comfortable in our own
skin. In addition to providing the new sorority members with the chance to
learn how to feel more positively about their bodies, the SBIP also
pr
ovides upperclass sorority members with the chance for leadership and
service by becoming peer-facilitators of the program. Members who complete
the program and peer-facilitator training gain valuable group leadership
experience, and serve as mentors to younger sorority members. Select
members whose academic interests coincide with the research component of
the SBIP also have the opportunity to oversee the program by becoming
research assistants in the Department of Psychology. To date, fourteen
Trinity sorority research assistants have earned co-authorship on papers
or posters presented at national or international conferences, and seven
have co-authored papers published by or submitted to peer-reviewed
journals.
This innovative program at Trinity has recently come to the attention
of national sororities, and in 2007-2008 will be expanding to more
universities across the country. As a Trinity sorority member, you have
the opportunity to be a part of a truly unique and groundbreaking program
that is gaining national attention for the positive and effective message
it delivers to college women regarding their bodies.