An Update on Wellness Activities and Initiatives at Le Moyne

Le Moyne is fully committed to continuously enhancing support for all aspects of wellness – mind, body and soul – for students and members of the campus community. With this in mind, below are some of our recent initiatives.

• Winter Welcome Warmup – Staff visited residence halls for a couple of hours at the beginning of the semester to give out coffee, healthy snacks and information about available services.
• Dolphins Care – Faculty, staff and administrator volunteers visited residence halls to meet with students and provide encouragement as midterms and spring break approached and also gave out coffee and hot chocolate to commuter students as they arrived on campus.
• Culturally Informed Plant Powered Cooking Classes and Dinner – Held every month in the Drescher Community Room, this series is funded by a community health grant from Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield.
• Healthy Minds Survey – More than 700 students completed the survey, which marked the first time ever the College conducted a comprehensive survey on student mental health. Survey data is currently under review by a working group of students, administrators and faculty and findings will be used to guide strategic planning as well as identify potential grant-supported needs.
• Depression Screening – More than 300 students participated and supportive follow up with students was provided as appropriate.
• Trauma Informed Grief Response Team (TIG) – In 2022, six Le Moyne employees participated in 40 hours of training – including a critical incident stress management protocol – to help integrate trauma informed response into the College’s overall crisis plan. Designed to help students in the wake of trauma or tragedies in their lives or within the campus community, the College is currently recruiting a second cohort to become trained in TIG later this year.
• Connecting + Mattering = Belonging – This program, developed in collaboration with Campus Ministry to help students feel less isolated, includes dinner and conversation. The program’s second event of the semester is planned for later in March.
• Be Your Best – This initiative, overseen by the class deans Allison Farrell and Mark Godleski, invited students to an off-campus conference with breakout sessions and a keynote address by Associate Provost for Student Development Shaun Crisler. Held in early February, 25 students were able to participate, connect with new people and learn ways to deal with anxiety and enhance resources in their mental health toolkit.
• United States Health Promoting Campuses Network (USHPCN) – Le Moyne recently joined the USHPCN, an international network with a goal of making health, people, place and planet a priority on campus. Le Moyne is one of only three Jesuit institutions to join (see a complete list of member institutions.) USHPCN supports campuses as they navigate the process to adopt the Okanagan Charter as an aspirational document for guiding campus wellbeing efforts, developing strategies, and creating metrics for what it means to be a health-promoting campus.
• You Are Not Alone (YANA) Week – This annual event, typically held during the fall semester, was moved to the spring semester this year. Among the many YANA Week activities were:
  ·       Wear Your Heart On Your Sleeve LGBTQIA+ Social
  ·       Alumna Lorenda Mabel ’15 talk on mattering, belonging and restorative justice
  ·       Le Moyne Therapist London Wright met with students in the BIPOC Lounge
  ·       Take A Break From Reality With A Virtual Reality
  ·       Healthy Monday screening
• Health and Wellness Fair – This event, featuring multiple outside organizations and College student groups and offices, offered a fun, educational way for students to learn about available services and support. There were snacks, water and giveaways at various tables as well as the opportunity to get either a flu vaccine or a COVID booster.
• Wellness Focus Summit – Scheduled for Wednesday, March 22, all departments in student development will host tables in the Campus Center where students can engage with staff members and share their thoughts on how the College can continue to best support them. There will be giveaways for participation, plus massage chairs, art therapy and an aura reader. More details will be communicated as the summit nears.
• Out of the Darkness – Scheduled for Sunday, April 23, this large-scale suicide prevention event is a collaboration with the Mental Health Awareness Club, Student Government Association, various other clubs and the class deans. There will be food trucks, mind-body-spirit activities, music and dance performances. This is a fundraising event for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the goals are to prevent suicide, raise hope, and honor those we’ve lost in our community.
• Address Your Stress – An end-of-the-semester event for all students, with giveaways for managing stress during finals week.
• Enhanced Fitness Class Schedule – Classes including Barre, Spinning and Yoga are offered at the Recreation Center and available throughout the semester; see the schedule here.
• Mental Health Pop-Up Shop – In February, HEOP/AHANA sponsored this event, with goodies, mental health resources and motivational quotes.
• Pop-up Heart Healthy – Also taking place in February, Sodexo held this event in the lobby of Grewen Hall, serving a variety of fruits and snacks with a dark chocolate dip (high in antioxidants!) Sodexo’s dietician was there as well and there were a variety of hand-outs.
• Campus Connect Suicide Prevention Training – Ongoing education for students, faculty and staff.

I would like to thank all those students, faculty, staff and others who are committed to improving wellness in all its forms on campus. I’m heartened by all that we have accomplished and look forward to continuing to enhance our wellbeing efforts moving forward. Each of us play an important role in building a campus culture where we all can thrive.

Sincerely,

Anne Kearney, LCSW-R
Dean of Student Wellbeing