You may have spotted her last spring on the campaign trail between dorms and dining halls. Or you may have read about her in The Daily, where she has been mentioned in 67 articles since stepping on campus three years ago.
And, with the exception of freshmen, she most likely has shaken your hand — or given you a hug — at least once.
As president of Associated Student Government, Jane Lee is no stranger to the Northwestern student body.
But the Weinberg senior’s appearance in the October issue of Glamour magazine has given her a bit more star power than even the high-profile student is used to.
“I was at the 1800 Club and this girl came up to me and basically gave me that look — ‘Were you … ?'” Lee said. “You kind of just want to laugh a little and say, ‘Yeah.'”
Glamour pegged Lee as “the community crusader” in its “Top 10 College Women 2004” feature, which hit newsstands Sept. 14. The profile cites Lee’s work lobbying city officials to prevent a redrawing of Evanston wards that would diminish student voting power in the community.
Lee, who competed with 500 other college juniors last winter for a spot, said she did not expect to win. She’s the eighth NU woman to win the competition since it started 47 years ago, said Beth Andrews, a Glamour spokesperson.
“You read about all the women and you think, ‘Here these women are, doing medical research in Third-World countries and off doing crazy, amazing things,'” said Lee, whose high school counselor first suggested she enter the competition. “You think, ‘How can I ever join their caliber?'”
She also said she thought the magazine wouldn’t select her because her efforts to protect student voting rights would be hard to explain in a blurb.
“Redistricting is a very complex subject,” she said. “I even have a hard time telling my friends what it is.”
But Lucile Krasnow, who wrote a recommendation for Lee, said she was not surprised to see Lee’s photograph alongside those of the other nine winners.
“This is a woman who works extremely hard on campus,” said Krasnow, NU’s special assistant for community relations, who has worked with Lee on several ASG projects. “She sets her own goals and always follows through with them.”
It is nice to be recognized for her hard work, Lee said. The full-body massage, free trip to New York City and $1,500 cash prize also were big perks.
The star treatment didn’t stop there. The magazine put the Northridge, Calif., native in a high-brow hotel, The Muse.
She modeled for a professional photographer in a six-hour long photo shoot. (By the way, she didn’t get to keep the dress.)
She also met former congresswoman Pat Schroeder and author Elisabeth Robinson, who wrote “True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters.”
During her trip, Lee spotted Tyra Banks during Fashion Week and passed Kirsten Dunst on the way to Lombardi’s pizzeria.
But she said her favorite part of the entire experience was getting to know the other winners “who were passionate about changing the world.”
“I found that a lot of (these) people are coffee addicts,” she said, sipping on a cup of iced coffee herself.
Lee, who said she wants to be a congresswoman, has won various awards for her social policy work. The legal studies and political science major won California’s “Woman of the Year” award at age 18 and was a Truman Scholar finalist.
“She’s a woman to watch in the future,” Krasnow said.
Reach Erin Stock at [email protected].