COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES
Sodexo student influencer promotes ASL accessibility on college campus
The Sodexo dining team at Nazareth University in
S tudents at Nazareth University are playing a major role in the dining program’s marketing initiatives, with three students on Sodexo’s Street Team, which works to connect students directly with the dining team. The Street Team members play various roles: a marketing intern, a student influencer and a student ambassador. For Natalie Wood, who is a sophomore at the university, she hopes to use her role to bring the student voice to the dining program. The street program’s pilot began in the Spring 2024 semester and Wood was involved the initial pilot phase. Wood initially applied to work with the university’s social media team and eventually was put in contact with the Naz Dining’s Marketing Manager Kadijah Brack-Rowley, who offered Rochester, NY, is leveraging its students’ influence on social media with a new program. Student influencers on the “Sodexo Street Team” connect with campus, make multimedia to highlight dining, teach how to order with American Sign Language and more. BY REYNA ESTRADA
Wood the role of student influencer for the dining team. “Our focus has always been increasing the student voice in our dining program, and what better way to do that than having a team of students,” Brack- Rowley said, in a statement. “The best part is each member having their own role, knowing that what they do matters and they all can focus in an area, and as one, become a huge influence on campus.” For Wood, working on social media was a perfect role as she says she has always felt drawn to multimedia content. “I love social media, I’m always editing videos,” she said. “When I was younger, my sister and I would make videos and edit them, so now I’d have an opportunity to do it in a professional sense.” Wood has worked on a variety of different projects, including a video review of Boba drinks at The Cab, a dining location on campus, a day in her life as she dines on campus and a video celebrating National Deaf History Month, which runs from March 13 through April 15. Wood is especially passionate about spreading education about American
Sign Language (ASL), as she studies in the communications sciences and disorders program. She also has been studying ASL since the age of 10. She puts a lot of creativity and thought behind her videos, she often likes to interact with dining employees to create engaging content. “With this role, I get to connect with my peers on a different level with food and trying new things, and being funny and honest. I’ve even been recognized at the school for my videos,” she said. “I definitely think that even though it’s not that big of a role, it’s definitely a good resume thing for me, because it says I’m versatile and can do and excel in multiple different things.” Brack-Rowley said that Woods efforts has brought the dining team more followers on its social media accounts. She also said that the Street Team efforts overall has led to an n increase in student feedback. “For example, I’ve noticed a lot will see friends doing tabling, and they stop by to take the survey because of that,” she said. “Overall, having the Street Team in our dining program has increased the stud student approachability and shows that we truly care about the student experience.”
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PHOTO COURTESY OF ELIOR NORTH AMERICA
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