The Curve ASU

In 2011, The Curve (Creating Unity Resulting in Voluptuous Empowerment) was founded on the campus of Delaware State University for curvy women. In 2019, when Rachel Williams learned about the organization through a friend who attended DSU, she decided to bring The Curve to Montgomery, Alabama and broaden its scope to include women of all body types at Alabama State University.

I had the honor of sitting with four incredibly gifted young women who make up the Executive Board of the ASU Chapter of The Curve: Rachel Williams, President and Campus Founder; Kimberly L. Thomas, Vice President; Aunjelle Roque, Membership Coordinator; and Vachelle Robertson, Secretary. Their passions and career aspirations intertwine with their respective roles in The Curve in such an advantageous way.

At 17, Rachel, who majors in political science, organized a protest in Washington, D.C. with her friends after the death of Trayvon Martin. Along with her plans to attend law school and strategize campaigns (she serves as a student organizer for U.S. Senator Doug Jones), Rachel seeks to learn policies and understand systems of privilege and oppression in order to advocate for immediate and pro-Black equality. It’s no surprise that in addition to leading protests and organizing campaigns that she would lead and charter a new chapter of The Curve.

Kimberly, a senior marketing major, sees herself in a quote from Jay-Z: “I’m a business, man.” Her passion for entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and public speaking supports her vice president role to motivate members, brainstorm innovative ideas to serve her community, and promote The Curve’s brand.

Aunjelle is a criminal justice major who plans to pursue a career as a juvenile probation officer or as a youth correctional counselor. What motivates her toward this goal? She wants to pay attention to the children who are often overlooked. I believe that her heart for noticing those who others may not pay attention to gives her insight as a membership coordinator. This insight allows her to recruit potential members who may feel overlooked socially, so that they realize they have a home in an organization that values unity and empowerment.

Vachelle, majoring in psychology, is on track to becoming a counselor. She describes herself as “observant,” a skill and requirement of any successful secretary.

During my conversation with the E-Board, I certainly learned some valuable lessons about servant leadership. These women chose to be part of the E-Board, not for the perks, popularity, or prestige, but to set a standard of excellence and offer services to guide their peers. Such a decision took great courage and support. Kimberly, Aunjelle, and Vachelle were drawn to The Curve when the organization led them to step out of their comfort zone by attending an interest meeting and participating in the Curve Challenge on social media, where students posted a video or photo with their name and what they want to curve about themselves (e.g., procrastination, bad eating habits).

Kimberly prayed on becoming a Curve leader and felt the confidence to run for office when she remembered that she didn’t have to fear doing this alone. Aunjelle started off as a member who shadowed the outgoing treasurer. She found that she preferred being behind the scenes, a preference that drew her to the membership coordinator position. These young women push each other and their members to be their absolute best and take initiative. As Vachelle described, she felt like she was active, but not active enough, and simply being apart of the group is not always sufficient.

Rachel knew she didn’t want the ASU chapter of The Curve to be a revolving door, “come and go”- type organization on campus. Her plan has been to put structures in place so that when she graduates the organization will continue to thrive. “You’re only leading because so many people are following… We are the voices to advocate for others. Don’t waste your privilege,” Rachel said. I think this is such a humbling realization, considering that we often forget that even if we’re a supervisor over paid employees, we are leading people who choose whether they will follow us. According to Aunjelle, “It’s a good feeling to know

that even though we don’t have authority over others, ‘this is what we’re going to do. This is how we’re going to do it. How would you like to help me help you?’

Honesty. Responsibility. A willingness to do whatever it takes. According to the E-Board, these are a few traits that a leader must possess. Vachelle added that leadership requires “the ability to be able to be a great example and to problem solve.”

Prepared. Strategic. Humble. The E-Board recognized these adjectives as a few ways to describe a leader on the move. Transparency is another adjective that appeared to be a theme that the E-Board not only mentioned but also exhibited throughout our conversation. Kimberly said, “The root word [of leadership] is leader. It’s a person taking the responsibilities of a leader, and they’re outlining the mission and vision. They’re transparent about the goals of where we’re going.” Aunjelle expressed that “as a leader, you are to be transparent, passionate, and vocal about your successes and your failure. We all have the capability to be a leader, but it’s about how you value and inspire others and elevate yourself.” In essence, a leader has never “arrived.” According to Aunjelle, as we

continually grow through our successes and failures, we inspire others to do the same.

Another theme that emerged during our discussion was “mentorship,” a term that varies in meaning among groups and has often been misunderstood. However, the ladies of The Curve were able to explain not only what mentorship means to them but what it looks like in their particular organization. While leadership and mentorship are related and are both important, they are indeed distinct. The former involves guiding a group of people, while the latter is based more on relationship and personal experience. The Curve’s structure, goals, and practices demonstrate this distinction. For example, every member in The Curve may not have a formal leadership role, but they can all mentor someone. Kimberly explained that Mentorship Monday has been an initiative in The Curve where the organization pairs a college woman with one or two of her peers to get to know each other, fellowship, and break bread to really see what’s going on and what they need help with. Although it’s called Mentorship Monday, its purpose goes beyond a catchy name. Kimberly clarified that for The Curve, and in general, “Mentorship is every day.” Aunjelle added that mentorship is not just in-house. It’s in communities and with elementary or middle school girls. She believes that as big sisters, they can help young girls with homework and addressing mental health issues. The Curve can also look for different things to assist teenagers with during their transition to high school.

Kimberly recalled meeting freshmen in college who became seniors or were two years out of college and still kept in touch with their mentors. She wants The Curve to have the same effect for the ladies of their organization, even beyond their E-Board shadowing process. Basically, mentorship and grooming of the next set of leaders starts from Day One. For Aunjelle, it was experiencing a warm and genuine welcome and acceptance letters, great vibes during her first general body meeting, openness, and accountability. Then, there’s a trickle-down effect that happens for new

E-board members and general members: “They feel the same love that we felt when we came in, and we provide them with a smooth transition. Our values are deeply rooted in mentorship, service, empowerment and just really big on reflecting on self,” said Aunjelle.

Ultimately, leadership requires commitment, and Rachel desires to give women more power, which comes with responsibility and an attachment to a task. “When you put your name on something, you have made a commitment, and you have to follow through the whole way,” Rachel said. This is her first year of having women to work with instead of doing everything on her own. She described the feeling as “unimaginable” and one that has brought tears to her eyes. She also feels grateful and blessed: “It makes me want to keep working. It’s like wow, somebody finally cares about it how I care about it.” Leadership also requires influence. Rachel continued, “Simply by them stepping up and being a board, you’re preparing that next group of women to step up and be a board. If there’s no example, then what do people have to go off of?”

For The Curve’s E-Board, leadership is not about replicating themselves, but about pulling out the best in the next group of leaders. “We’re known as the ‘hard hitters,’ but what are you going to bring? Let’s pull that out of you and see what you can do,” Aunjelle said. Mentorship can even be a part of one’s legacy. According to Vachelle, “Everybody has their time where

they fall beneath and they need somebody to come pick them up and they necessarily don’t want to go to their parents or go to their family, and so the legacy that I want to leave is having that good mentorship.” Their goals for influence don’t stop there, as they want to leave even more than mentorship as a legacy.

When asked what legacy they want to leave for The Curve, Rachel said “I want to leave a space where women can come in and contribute and then take that contribution and say ‘This is what I have to show for it’ in the spaces they go in. We’re big on making sure that opportunity is here.” To her, opportunity includes service, teaching, specializing in a field and hosting a seminar, and more: “We need to have spaces where women can feel open to create and grow and then turn around and help other women to create and grow.”

Kimberly noted how The Curve is “keeping everyone on their toes” so that people can continuously see them not only working but also bonding. A new chapter of The Curve is forming in California, and Kimberly wants to see the organization’s reach continue to expand across the country. “This isn’t just a regular organization,” Aunjelle proclaimed. The E-Board members “say what they mean and mean what they say.” They also show intentionality in their programming, which is planned weeks in advance as they continue to “really empower and curve our communities, just like we stand for,” stated Aunjelle. Kimberly’s goal is

“making sure the next E-Board has even bigger shoes to fill because we’ve done a lot individually and collectively.” While some officers may fear future leaders “outshining” what they accomplished during their tenure, she wants their successors to take the E-Board to the “next level of excellence and execution.”

For Kimberly, not only does The Curve’s legacy impact her community and future students at ASU, but it also impacts her reputation: “That’s really big. I think that’s something, for me, I would want that personally: the reputation of a last name. ‘Oh, your mama, she was this. And this is how she paved the way for you and your siblings.’” She gets excited thinking about how her work in The Curve and overall can pave the way for her children and their offspring for generations to come. As Aunjelle said, you’re “leaving behind something for people to know you as and recognize you for. Basically, you can help and guide people while you’re here, but to also help and guide people while you’re gone.” And gone doesn’t have to mean in death; it can be when a student graduates and moves on from a university, it can be when an employee transitions jobs, or it can be when a person moves to another community.

Vachelle reminded us that it’s not just the legacy we leave behind that matters, but how we leave that legacy behind. Did we leave our legacies the right way and from a pure heart? Vachelle wants to leave a legacy where others say, “She really did this. She put her heart, her mind, her soul, everything into it.”

When it comes to leaving a legacy, Rachels’ requirement is that “there is something greater to leave here that will impact everyone…Whatever I do needs to be greater than my box. Greater than the circle that I’m in.” What specific legacy does she plan for The Curve to leave for future members? “A long-lasting sisterhood that networks. A history of structure. Quality – quality is my favorite word. Okay? I’m a quality girl. We set the standard at The Curve ASU and we set it for the chapters too. We [are] the standard. So, I want that to live on. I want women to continue to challenge themselves. Just because you think this organization is good, doesn’t mean it can’t be better. And if you’re not joining to make it better, then why are you joining?” Whew. Talk about a personal motive check.

With all of the wisdom, knowledge, and self-awareness that my younger self would have loved to gain from them during my time in undergrad, there’s no way around the challenges of leadership. For example, Rachel shared the need to personally balance sensitivity with her strong, direct delivery and how she’s working on “finding a middle” when communicating with others. In addition, she adds, “Leadership is everything that it’s not. People love the show. People love titles. People love being in the front. But it’s not always what people make it out

to be.” Her words remind us that there are no excuses when someone is sick or when people do not take things seriously or do things at the right time.

Kimberly spoke on the organization’s steps to restructure and pull in old members to keep the excitement in the midst of figuring out why some don’t participate. Although support is great, the E-Board’s goal and desire is for support to turn into participation. Aunjelle shared, “Everyone’s mind is everywhere. It’s challenging when everything is virtual. Even though [virtual gatherings have] been around, it’s so new. From getting on Zoom calls, to figuring out why this person can’t hear this person and why it’s crashing all the time, to figuring out ‘hey, can we even make this even virtual?’ It was frustrating to have all the ideas but make it virtual. Even though it’s a new norm now, I don’t think it’ll ever be normal. It’s just really hard.” Vachelle observed, “I feel like when we were face to face, it was like yeah we’re seeing a lot of faces. But now [that] it’s virtual, people claim to [say] ‘Oh, I’m doing some homework.” Vachelle went on to express that there’s a new challenge to get people to “Just listen. Just show up. You can’t drag people to stuff.”

There are indeed new challenges for leaders, on top of the overwhelming challenges of 2020: a global pandemic, social injustices, historic rises in mental health issues, and more. So how do we overcome the challenges of leading people in an organization?

Kimberly assures us that “When you love the organization, you put the frustration behind you. Know and remember what you signed up for. People will sometimes get the position, get the title, and drop the ball that came with that. Just remain humble. When the hard times come, remember why you started. Remember where you’re going. Stay focused. You’ve got to keep your eye on the ball and remember that people are watching. Remember that you’re leading people. You cannot let your people down.”

In line with remembering why we started, Vachelle’s leadership quote is that “Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader. They set out to make a difference.” She continued, “Don’t lead people just to what others are doing but lead them to what you know is right. Do the research.”

Leadership truly requires teamwork. Vachelle shared that it means a lot that her peers chose this year’s E-Board to lead: “Everybody can’t be vice president. Everybody can’t be a membership coordinator or a secretary. Stand up to your name and your position.” Our organizations certainly depend on us.

Aunjelle encourages us to extend grace to ourselves and others. “To be a leader is to be yourself. Not as an overseer but as an overcomer and an uplifter…You’re constantly trying to keep not just yourself motivated but others.

Rachel sums it up well: Remove all your selfish ideologies now. Today. Tomorrow. Soon. Please. Because, if not, you’re going to be humbled real quick. Leadership is not a selfish job at all.

What advice do they have for current or aspiring (student) leaders?

Vachelle: It’s not going to come easy, but everything you do is worth it. Don’t get the big head.

Aunjelle: Be patient and trust the process. It may seem hard right now, but there’s always a way to get through. It’s always a way through. You’re going to meet your end goal, even when it may seem like it gets hard.

Due to the unity of this E-Board, you likely did not notice that much of Rachel’s portion of the conversation took part without the rest of her E-Board able to be present. However, her ability to have made the vision plain showed in how her fellow leaders explained it with such clarity and conviction. In Rachel’s absence, I took the liberty to dig deeper in understanding their appreciation for her bringing The Curve to ASU and asked her team what they would like to say to her.

Kimberly: Keep going. Maybe we could come together and charter one at a community college, or [Auburn University-Montgomery], or another HBCU [like] Tuskegee here in Alabama. So, I would tell her to keep going and even keep going beyond The Curve. You see what she does in politics, [so] maybe should could help implement the values that The Curve has into politics. I would tell her thank you. Thank you for being courageous. It takes a lot to start an organization on a campus or an organization, period. You don’t know who’s going to join, who’s going to be interested, or who’s going to remain consistent. I would thank her for taking that risk and being courageous starting something at Alabama State. Aunjelle: Thank you for seeing something and bringing it to State and reinventing it to fit what you knew that our campus lacked. We have all these other organizations that are mentoring programs and community service programs, but she really took it and embodied it and really made it happen. She executed it. So, to her I would really say thank you for being that leader and being the person to stand up and actually do something [that] maybe other people were afraid to do or that they didn’t think to do. I will always just thank her because she’s really been like that big sister and the person who really sees the end goal and says, “We’re going to get this done regardless.” Even when she’s having her panicky days, it’s just really refreshing to know that she’s just really going hard regardless of if she’s by herself or if she has us.

Vachelle: Everybody needs The Curve, to me. I feel like everybody needs to be a part of this organization. We’re helping each other build up and be better.

May other leaders and their team members celebrate each other with such sincerity. May employees and employers speak this highly of one another when away from each other’s presence. May teachers and students, and pastors and teachers, hold each other in such high esteem. May family members regard each other with so much delight. As Dr. Christine C. Thomas states in Christine’s Courageous Quotes, “Let’s remember that we are all leaders…leading someone in our home, workplace, and circle of influence. Let’s give it our best.” One thing I know about The Curve E-Board is that when it comes to leadership, these ladies are student leaders giving it their best.

Alabama State University