Badgers Belong

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“Badgers Belong” – the Meaning Behind the Mantra

Jen Cook introduces the Badgers Belong initiative. By Carlie Fowles

Snow College’s 2021 freshman class has faced unique challenges, including feeling largely isolated and dealing with the fear and uncertainty that accompanied the pandemic. Many had not been able to spend their high school senior year with their friends, participate in school activities, or even participate in a traditional graduation ceremony. Snow College’s first lady, Jen Cook, made it her mission to help students develop the skills and resilience they needed to overcome the challenges they were facing to be successful at Snow.

Jen met with over 100 individuals around campus to identify what students needed in order to tackle the challenges they were facing. From the conversations with campus, Jen felt that a campus-wide initiative that focused on fostering a culture of safety and belonging would be a worthwhile endeavor. After thinking about how to best accomplish this, Badgers Belong was born.

Kickstarting the campaign, Jen was invited to present the Badgers Belong initiative to all faculty and staff at the annual Fall Assembly in August 2021 before classes started for the academic year. During the presentation, Jen educated the audience of the challenges that rural students face. One alarming statistic Jen brought to the audience’s attention: Snow College’s six-county service region faces the highest suicide rate in the state. Additional risk factors that may face the college’s student population include: physical and mental health challenges, substance abuse, physical or sexual assault, past trauma, absent or unstable parenting, minority status, poor communication skills, and the inability to advocate for oneself. After this event, Jen stated, “The support was overwhelming, and I was overjoyed at the heartfelt enthusiasm that our campus showed for the initiative. It was yet another example of how incredible our Snow College community is and how deeply they are committed to the success and well-being of each person who steps foot on our campus.”

Students at Badgers Belong kick-off event.

The student steering committee for the campaign came up with logos and t-shirts to give away across campus. The shirts said, “Hey Badger behind me, I hope you have a reason to smile today. Lots of love, the Badger in front of you,” and were given out at a Badgers Belong-themed basketball game. The men’s basketball team wore the shirts while warming up for the game, while the cheerleaders and Badgerettes wore them throughout the entire game. Hundreds of shirts were given away that night with students begging for more. Students have been more than willing to help the initiative thrive on campus. For example, a last-minute video was being filmed to introduce the Badgers Belong initiative to campus. Given the impromptu notice, a few students were told to spread the word. The hope was to get at least 25 students to attend; however, over 200 students came to show their support. In addition, the men’s basketball team created their own Badgers Belong video, which was well received by campus.

Throughout the course of the 2021-2022 academic year, Jen developed a curriculum that teaches leadership, bystander intervention, and that “being a good human” matters. Training courses consisted of two sessions of 50 minutes, including facilitated participant-led brainstorming sessions. During these training courses, participants were given scenarios related to stalking, bullying, assault, injury, suicidal ideation, mental health challenges, dating apps, gender roles, implicit bias, diversity and inclusion, LGBTQ issues, drug and alcohol use, vaping, healthy vs. unhealthy relationships, and boundaries – with the goal to educate, prevent and stop harm, and ultimately promote belonging. Jen said, “My hope is that the Badgers Belong campaign helped build a campus culture that empowered us to be loving and supportive of one another. I hope it provides opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to develop leadership and practice doing the right thing even when it’s the difficult thing. Above all, I want each one of our students and employees to know they are a valued member of our Badger family.”

On May 12, 2022, it was announced that President Brad Cook accepted the position of president at the American University of Bahrain. In light of the news, we asked Jen, “What is your hope for the future of this campaign?” Jen’s response was, “I hope the Badgers Belong initiative will grow along with Snow College and continue to foster a culture that develops compassionate and resilient Badgers.” Many campus constituents are to be thanked for their part in this campaign. Badgers Belong is a relevant message that speaks to all who step foot on Snow’s campus.