It started as a simple online conversation among members of the Bowdoin Women's Association list-serve. Through a chain of emails, members expressed their general frustration with the silence surrounding the issue of eating disorders at Bowdoin.
The character of the exchange was highly emotional: members shared stories about their own struggles, friends' eating problems, and the spirit of perfectionism they felt pervaded the campus environment.
After the email exchange, members of the BWA and the V-Day movement, along with several other female students, set up a meeting with Dean of Student Affairs Craig Bradley to discuss current problems of eating disorders on campus. That led to subsequent meetings with other deans, Melissa Walters from Dudley Coe Health Center, Shelley Roseboro from counseling, and Karin Clough from the Women's Resource Center. Those and a few other students eventually became the core members of the Positive Body Image Task Force.
"We found out that we had been doing all this work on the issue but not bringing our efforts together in any way," Clough said. "Forming the task force was an action taken to bring together all the different groups who were conducting individual efforts and make a group effort to assess the situation and to change things."
Clough noted several different events geared toward issues of eating disorders which had taken place throughout the year, including the "Andrea's Voice" presentation on bulimia, V-Day's presentation of The Vagina Monologues, Love Your Body Day, and Eating Disorders Awareness Week, which was organized by WARRIORS.
In the end, it was decided that the small group that had first gathered would be the official task force, but that it was also essential to hear from the broader community. The group wanted to get as many people from the community as possible in one room to talk about these issues.
The task force held a retreat at the Outdoor Leadership Center on April 2. Approximately 60 participants were asked to consider two questions: 1) Where is Bowdoin now in terms of eating disorders? What factors influence students' body image and their decisions about health? 2) What can Bowdoin do to better deal with the problem of eating disorders?
"The main question posed at the retreat was, if we all agree that there is room for improvement, then how can we make progress?" Clough said.
Small groups discussed these questions and then shared them with the larger group. A list of suggestions was compiled that was consistent with the goal of making Bowdoin an environment that could foster healthier attitudes. The task force is currently working on a report detailing these ideas, which they hope to present to the community by the end of the year.
Short-term and long-term goals were suggested, including everything from a full-time nutritionist (there is currently a nutritionist who visits the College twice a week) to a wellness center offering yoga and meditation classes and other health services. Participants also suggested that more money be directed to the health center to educate providers about treating students with eating disorders and dietary concerns, as well as to further funding to educate students, proctors, and coaches.
Participants also proposed that a message board be placed in the Union where people could invite others to join in different physical activities, including those offered by the Outing Club, so as to promote the idea of exercise as social and fun, rather than merely obligatory. Another goal is to train proctors from every dorm on the issue of eating disorders. Other ideas include more time during Orientation directed to this issue, and a peer counseling group modeled after Harvard Echo, the school's support group for people with eating disorders that features trained peer mentors.
Jessie Solomon-Greenbaum '04, a student member of the task force, noted changes to Bowdoin's dining situation proposed by the group. These ideas include more flexibility with dining hours, more kitchens for student use as an alternative to dining plans, and cooking classes that would teach students to prepare their own healthy meals.
"We're so busy at Bowdoin that eating can sometimes feel like a stressful occasion. It is often something that is done for 45 minutes between classes, homework, and activities," she said. "Maybe some of these initiatives will help make it less stressful, so that eating at Bowdoin would have different, more positive connotations."
Solomon-Greenbaum expressed her frustration with Bowdoin's situation. She said her trip abroad allowed her to recognize just how wrong-headed students could be about food. "I got some perspective going abroad in Italy, not just from being in a different place, but because Italian culture is a culture that values food. There is a different pace of life there. I realized how different it could be at Bowdoin if people could socialize and enjoy food rather than see it as a negative thing."
The general consensus among participants in the retreat was that problems are, in part, the result of the pressure Bowdoin students put on themselves to succeed. Sarah Walcott '05, another task force member, agreed "These issues can start from so many things," she said. "There is this pressure at Bowdoin that you always have to be doing something. In particular, the amount of athleticism at this school can add pressure to other areas of students' lives, something that can lead to academic and body perfectionism."
At the retreat's conclusion, Bradley expressed his hope that the task force would continue to expand its efforts to create a long-term body image movement. Dudley Coe's Walters is in a position that lets her see first-hand the gravity and reach of the problem.
"More and more people are coming to me to talk about a roommate or a friend," she said. "They are aware about this issue and care deeply about how it affects them and their friends. We're at a critical point now in what we can do and it's important that we continue the dialogue."