Northwestern is participating in the national “You Are Beautiful” campaign as part of Body Acceptance Week, which started Monday.

This is the first time NU will be spreading the campaign, which sends students “You Are Beautiful” stickers and holds programming throughout the week. The national campaign started in 2002 in Chicago with 100 stickers. It now sends more than 2 million stickers and has been translated into 81 languages.

“The power of the community has spread around the globe, to every major city, and even to Antarctica,” said Chicago designer Matthew Hoffman.

Hoffman created a model arch of silver and black that reads “You Are Beautiful” for NU’s campus. He said he meant for it to be symbolic of The Arch.

“We’re really excited about the ‘You Are Beautiful’ arch,” said Eileen Biagi, staff psychologist at Counseling and Psychological Services. “This is the first year that we are using something like artwork as a kind of way to encourage people to rethink their thoughts about beauty.”

The arch will be on display in the courtyard in front of University Library until Friday. Biagi is encouraging students to use the hashtag #NUbeautiful to support the movement through social media.

The “You Are Beautiful” campaign is occurring in conjunction with Body Acceptance Week, which the National Eating Disorders Association promotes every February. The association wants the campaign to be applicable to people with any kind of body image issues, Biagi said.

Body Acceptance Week has been prominent on college campuses around the country, Biagi said.

“We’re kind of swimming in this culture where we’re inundated with messages about how we don’t look just right by the folks that are selling us stuff,” she said. “It’s kind of refreshing to see something that reminds us that we’re beautiful just the way we are now.”

A Northwestern Dining dietitian and chef will be teaching students about healthy eating habits Tuesday in Norris University Center.

There will be a physical activity program that will teach yoga and Zumba to promote physical activity in moderation, led by the Athletics Department. Medill graduate student Colleen Daly will be one of the instructors for the class.

“We want to ensure that the gym is a safe space that (students) are not having triggering contact with,” she said. “We want to ensure that everyone feels welcome and included.”

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