clearly SEX sells

A lot of things can be sexy, but olives? We saw these in a FAMILY gift shop while on the road and just had to take a picture. I think the picture says it all.

Kettering University

We wrapped our week up in Michigan at Kettering and had the chance to meet more amazing administrators and students. We truly love our job and feel so lucky to have the opportunity to meet and work with such great people. The students at Kettering just might be the hardest working students in higher ed! They go to school for 3 months, then work in an internship program for 3 months and alternate throughout the year. All of this with no spring break! These kiddos will be running the country in no time. I certainly hope they take a summer off to relax before they get started!
Signing off from our 3rd "M" state this week,
K & B

St. Joseph's College of Maine

Check out the amazing view! We were in a wonderfully quaint room with a beautiful stone fire place and an absolutely gorgeous mountain/ lake view. (Above- Kelly and Megan strike a pose before the program) Megan is a student that we had the chance to meet when we were at St. Joe's last year and she is a super star with a capital "S" for sure. As the President for the Social Justice Club on campus she planned our visit, located and secured funding on campus to make it happen, advertised not only our featured session, but put on several other events to bring awareness on campus this week and did an amazing job with everything. Students like Megan are such an incredible inspiration to us. We had a fantastic time kick'n it with Megan and the other students tonight. A special thanks to Megan and the good folks of St. Joe's who showed us a rock'n good time in Standish.

K & B

P.S. Just wanted to share a little scoop we learned over casual dinner conversation...Megan's family lives on the same street as Patrick Dempsey! Apparently, he's from Maine and spends much of his time there. We are huge fans of Grey's of course adore Dr. McDreamy and also grew up on the classic flick- Can't Buy Me Love. L-o-v-e, love the Patrick.

Much fun at MIT

What a great night! We had a chance to kick it with some super smart students at MIT this evening. We knew we would be hanging out with highly intelligent folks, but had no idea how extremely cool they would be. We had a fabulous time!

I feel like like I cannot complete this Blog entry without mentioning the incredibly awesome shirt we came across while on campus. The MIT mascot happens to be the beaver...that alone is totally exciting, but wait until you hear about how the students learn to embrace their mascot from the start and express great beaver pride with a splash of excellent fashion sense. They have orientation t-shirts that say, "Love your Beaver!" I must admit, we were eager as a beaver to purchase one of these great T's for ourselves, but learned that the shirts have been discontinued. Perhaps they will make a comeback in the future? This sort of thing lands on the list of things worth waiting for.

We'd like to thank our MIT friends for the amazing hospitality and wonderful memories!

K & B

A Celebratory Moment!

We just so happened to be in Hollywood on the day that Sanjaya was FINALLY voted off American Idol. I wanted to swing by the Kodak Theater to celebrate and respect the moment and Becca being totally respectful of my obsession with the Idol kindly agreed to go with.

Good bye Sanjaya, good bye.

Proud AI fan,

Kelly

Pittsburgh Airport at 5am

No matter where we are we feel that we absolutely must keep ourselves entertained at all hours. Here we are in the Pittsburgh airport armed with a camera and apparently lots of extra time.

Kelly stops to direct traffic:





Becca strikes a pose with Jerome Bettis "the bus"

California....knows how to party.

In higher education there are certain folks who are something of an enigma. Really well known, liked and respected. This was the case as we approached UC Riverside and met up with "the" Doug Everhart. So we were a touch nervous as we cruised on campus.

During dinner we quickly recognized how he got such a image and why it was so well deserved.

Simply put, Doug is amazing.

He has unified his campus and created ways to educate a large portion of his student body on issues such as HIV, mental health, alcohol use and abuse and sexual violence. Not once in awhile but annually. His model is one we hope to share as a resource on Unite for Change.

Needless, to say we loved speaking both to and with the campus community. In addition to Doug we met many students and administrators who were also fantastic.

Thank you Doug and UC Riverside for allowing us to partner with you on Unite for Change and for creating a space where the message can be heard.

In -N- Out

As most of you know, we're east coaster gals and do not have the famous In-N- Out Burger joint that all of our California friends and Hollywood celebrities speak so highly of. We were super excited to see the famous burger palace as we were cruising down the interstate in California today. The menu is so simple! Hamburger, cheeseburger, fries and beverages, that's it. Simple and delicious. We now understand the hype! Tasty and possibly as fresh as fast food can get. If you're ever on the west coast and spot and In-N-Out burger, give it a try. Who knows you might run into Paris and Nicole.

Northern Michigan University- Rocks Unite for Change!

So smack dab in the middle of the Unite for Change campaign we visit Northern Michigan University. We suspected it was going to be an awesome experience and we were right on. First off the student organizer was this awesome girl, Brit. She was professional, funny and motivated. Our kinda gal. So it was no surprise to us when she revealed she was also our sorority sister (sorry for the obvious bias).

However once we arrived on campus we knew Brit was a classic example of their entire Panhellenic Council. Who are actively working to stomp out sexual violence. The council even printed their own t-shirts which they sold as a fundraiser (pictured above). This is a great example of creating your own solutions to enact a cultural change in our communities.

You go girls!

Thank you all for being a part of the campaign and the Mission.

Always-

Becca and Kelly

Cheese glorious cheese!

There is a reason why, when so many people think about Wisconsin, they think about cheese. It's everywhere! This week our travels took us to the famous cheese state and for the first time, we both expereinced a Wisconsin dairy tradition. We sampled cheese curds. Sounds kind of funky, I know. We were a little concerned and slightly afraid at first, but we found a superb cheese house in Northern Wisconsin and tasted the very best curds Wisconsin has to offer. At least that's what the nice lady at the counter told us. What is a cheese curd you ask? Well, we asked too! Cheese curds are the freshest cheese in its most natural form. Right after the dairy people separate the curds from the whey and before they shape, process and pack the cheese they set aside some creamy dairy goodness in the form of cheese clumps, which we fondly refer to as super fresh cheese nibbles. When they are ultra fresh and served in proper form (room temperature) they give a little squeak when you bite into them. Honest!

Cheese is everywhere you turn in Wisconsin, even the gas stations have a large a delicious assortment of cheese (pictured above). We could not believe all the Chevron station had to offer. Amazing!

Totally impressed by Wisconsin dairy,

K & B

The Oprah freakin' Winfrey show!

Ok, so we just had one of the coolest experiences ever! Our good pal from back in college is this TV rock star. Who happens to work for the Queen of all media- Ms. Oprah Winfrey. But our friend Bil, really rocked our world when he got us tickets to the show hooked us up with backstage passes. Yes, backstage passes.

Truly, we never felt so cool.

Bil is one of the original supporters of our work against sexual violence. He even helped us make our first promo video. Suffice it say, we have all come along way baby.

The taping was so much more exciting and overwhelming than we had expected. For many Americans chilling in a small studio (it is much smaller than appears on TV) with Oprah is like a Brit having tea with the Queen. Plus, her staff really pumps you up. They have truly created an experience for each audience member. If you ever have the chance to attend a taping. Jump on it!

After the buzz of the experience we have decided to attend as many talk show taping's as possible in the next year. We hope to post many exciting photos and adventures from this latest escapade of ours.

Again, we cannot thank Bil (and his divine bride) Nancy for all the hospitality, laughter and memories.

Always-
Becca and Kelly

Love the Joe and the Bil

We have these two amazing friends who are both so full of light and wisdom (in addition to being painfully funny and cool). Joe and Bil. So you can imagine how jazzed we were to have dinner with two of our favorite people in our hometown. After dinner we headed out for some infamous local pie and ice cream. The only hiccup was when I (an avid dog lover) chased after a loose pup in hopes of reunited it with it's family. Mission sadly was not accomplished.

Spending time with da' boys I am always amazed by their stealth wisdom and insight. Joe and Bil are incredible speakers and facilitators so if you have not checked them out please do so now (we will wait) at http://www.joeandbil.com/. Highly recognized for their work, Joe and Bil are speaking out and educating students about heterosexual privilege and the joys and challenges they have shared over their almost 15 years together. It is a wonderfully honest approach to a important and timely issue. Kelly and I encourage any of you to give them a shout out or to invite them to your campus. They will not disappoint.

Always-
Becca (and Kelly)

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April is a wonderful time to educate, reflect and speak out against sexual violence.

Visit http://www.UniteforChange.com/ for ideas, send us an e-mail or speak out on the Unite for Change message board. We are fully committed to helping every one of you eradicate any form of violence.

Also, please share with us how you are making a difference on your campus and in your community. We would love to feature your work!

FOCUS * DETERMINATION * HOPE * PROMISE

Always-

Becca and Kelly

There must be some Toro’s in the atmosphere!

Yes, that’s snow and yes, we are wearing flip flops!

After a super cold February on the road and a snow filled March, we were really looking forward to leaving our winter coats behind while on the road come April. Our standard spring travel attire includes jeans or comfy cotton pants, a t-shirt and reef flip flops. I feel cozy just thinking about it!
Some totally unexpected, freakishly cold April weather swept the nation this week and we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of it and of course we were totally unprepared. As we flew from warm and sunny Houston, Texas on Wednesday morning, the pilot welcomed us to Cleveland, Ohio and announced that it was currently 35 degrees and snowing. WHAT?! We got some great stares as we walked through the airport sporting the flops. But, what’s a Florida girl to do?
We saw this as an opportunity to sing and pay tribute to one of our favorite classic flicks, Bring It On … Brrrrrr, its cold in here, there must be some Toro’s in the atmosphere! We’ve got to keep ourselves entertained (and those around us) while on the road.
We totally brought it!

Mount Union College

As part of Unite for Change (http://www.uniteforchange.com/) we got to view first hand some of things campuses are doing to address sexual violence on campus and in conjunction with the campaign. A rock star of this is our girl, Karen Petko. Karen is the Associate Dean of Students at Mount Union and a students administrator. Creative and engaged in her campus. She fostered an environment that was open and allowed students to be drawn into the discussion. She also gave out some amazing raffle prizes (including the sporty Unite for Change campaign t-shirts). Most of all her role in openly addressing sexual assault on campus tells her student population that violence is not acceptable and support exists throughout their campus community. Thank you Karen, for allowing us to be a part of that message.

St. Edward's

What makes our work so amazing are the students and administrators we meet a long the way. The way they own campus safety and community, simply rocks our world. On April 2nd, we spent time with the peeps of St. Edwards in Austin, Texas. There we met an incredible group of thoughtful, impassioned students with a support system to be envied. We cannot thank Abbie, Dr. Marla and Ryan enough for the opportunity to work with your students and to learn from each of you.

Let's hear it for the girls!

The end of March and the start of April are one of our absolute favorite times of the year...for Kelly and I, it means time in Hotlanta with the sorority leadership of the southeast. Nothing is more empowering than going back to your roots and seeing the future in action. And let me say, the future is bright! This year Kelly and I met more amazing women who are living their lives with purpose and promise.

It was as always, absolutely awesome!

With more negative messages coming at us everyday about the apathy and lack of drive in today's youth, I invite all of those concerned to attend this energizing conference.

Kelly and I flew home, exhausted and proud to be affiliated with these wonderful women.

Always-

Becca