OREANDA-NEWS. October 16, 2015. In honor of October’s National Bullying Prevention Month, Secret Mean Stinks is announcing the brand’s first-ever Nice Scholarship to celebrate the students who stand up to girl-to-girl bullying through the nice words and actions they share every day. The Nice Scholarship will award three students \\$10,000 each toward their college education in continued support of their efforts to make the world a nicer, bully-free place.

To enter, students are asked to visit MeanStinksScholarship.com and share how they will bring an end to bullying once and for all while living the Mean Stinks mantra of spreading nice to make a positive impact on those around them. Students must be 17 or older to enter, and winners will be chosen by a panel of sponsor-selected judges based on the following judging criteria:

  • Purpose and Support: Exhibits a good understanding of the issues of girl-to-girl bullying and supports it with examples that he/she has witnessed or endured personally (25%)
  • Organization and Logic of Idea: Develops a sound plan to end girl-to-girl bullying in his/her community or school; this can be something he/she has already executed or a plan he/she will execute in the future (45%)
  • Leadership and Results: Articulates ways in which his/her plan has impacted his/her community. If the plan hasn’t been executed yet, describes ways that he/she will measure success (20%)
  • Grammar and Spelling (10%)

Submissions will be accepted today through Dec. 14 and the winners will be announced and recognized for their efforts at the start of 2016 on MeanStinks.com and via Secret Mean Stinks’ social platforms.

The scholarship announcement directly follows this year’s #ChainOfNice movement led by Secret Mean Stinks in partnership with Teen Vogue, where girls are asked to take a pledge against bullying by joining the #ChainOfNice, and then nominating their friends to do the same. To date, hundreds of girls have taken the pledge and joined Secret Mean Stinks in its mission to bring an end to bullying.

“Since 2011, Secret Mean Stinks has been dedicated to providing young women tools, resources and confidence to take a proactive role in bringing an end to mean behavior,” said Karen Schwartz, Brand Manager, Secret. “No matter the task – whether it be painting a pinky blue to show solidarity for the cause or joining thousands of other students during last year’s Biggest. Assembly. Ever., these young women have always risen to the task and made the cause their own. We’re thrilled to now be able to reward them for their efforts with our first-ever Nice Scholarship.”

Additionally, on Oct. 16 Mean Stinks will have the first anti-bullying geofilter campaign targeted specifically at high schools across the U.S. in order to raise anti-bullying awareness and further spread the message that “Mean Stinks.”

“Through our geofilters product, we have the ability to bring the Mean Stinks message to high schools across the country in a natural and fun way that the students can engage with," said Jill Hazelbaker, VP of Communications and Public Policy at Snapchat. “We’re embracing this opportunity to take a stand against bullying on our platform and beyond."

For more information on the Nice Scholarship or Mean Stinks, please visit MeanStinks.com or follow @MeanStinks on Twitter or Instagram. For Nice Scholarship rules and regulations please visit MeanStinksScholarship.com.