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BARNARD
COLLEGE OFFERS STUDENTS HEALTHY LIVING IN RESIDENTIAL "WELLNESS
COMMUNITIES"
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Giselle
Harrington and Dr. Jessie Fields
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Barnard
College has expanded its Well Woman health promotion program,
now marking its 10th anniversary, through "wellness communities"
in residence halls that bring together students devoted to
healthy living.
The program has proved so popular that it will be expanded
next year to accommodate 55 sophomores and juniors in several
residence halls. This year, 25 first-year students live on
a wellness floor in Sulzberger Hall and a handful of upper
class students are scattered in "wellness communities"
in other residence halls. Incoming first-year students will
be offered the program in Sulzberger Hall next year as well.
The program, in collaboration with Barnard's Office of Residential
Life & Housing, is a response to the increasing and evolving
needs of busy college students who want to pursue health awareness
in their residences.
The wellness communities, says Giselle Harrington, director
and founder of Barnard's Well Woman program, "creates
positive surroundings for like-minded people to live what
they preach."
Harrington said the residential program is a natural progression
for a program that takes a holistic approach to healthy living.
Well Woman educates students about stress management, nutrition,
substance abuse, exercise, sexuality and other topics. The
goal is to help students create a more proactive, healthier
existence through an integrative approach to body, mind and
spirit. At a celebration of its 10th anniversary on April
5, peer educators in the program over the last 10 years returned
to Barnard for a gala dinner and talk by Dr. Jessie Fields,
an attending physician at North General Hospital and St.Lukes-Roosevelt
Hospital.
Cristen Scully Kromm, who oversees the wellness community
as director of the First-Year Focus program, explained, "Our
goal is that more Barnard students will commit to a holistic
approach to living. Wellness communities will help them to
balance the stresses of academic life now and prepare them
for the challenges of life beyond Barnard."
Scully Kromm said students live with others who share their
commitment to wellness; engage in health-related debates,
programs and activities; hear presentations by peer educators;
participate in community service outings together; and share
valuable information reflecting their pursuit of healthy lifestyles.
For example, this year's programs included fundraising walks
for breast cancer research, yoga instruction and safe sex
workshops.
Heather Love, one of the residents of the Sulzberger wellness
floor, was enthusiastic about the program. "It offers
first-year students the opportunity to live in a nurturing
environment with people who are passionate about good heath
and community spirit and service." Arien O'Connell, another
student and participant in the Sulzberger wellness community,
said: "It's a great environment to live in because everyone
is goal-oriented and has a similar outlook about healthy living."
Louise Hogan, a sophomore resident advisor on the floor and
a peer educator for the Well Woman program, said, "It's
an amazing, self-selected group of women dedicated to learning
about themselves and their bodies and educating the community."
Contact:
Suzanne Trimel, (212) 854-7583, strimel@barnard.edu
Barnard
College, a distinguished leader in higher education for women
for over 100 years, is today the most sought after private
liberal arts college for women in the nation. Founded in 1889,
the College was the first in New York City, and one of the
few in the nation at the time, where women could receive the
same rigorous liberal arts education available to men. Independent
but affiliated with Columbia University, Barnard maintains
its own administration, trustees, faculty, curriculum, endowment,
budget and campus. Barnard students may take classes at Columbia,
as Columbia students may do at Barnard. Barnard alumnae include
pioneers like anthropologist Margaret Mead and Judith Kaye,
the first female Chief Judge of the State of New York, along
with prominent cultural figures such as choreographer Twyla
Tharp, writers Zora Neale Hurston, and Mary Gordon, and Pulitzer
Prize-winning journalists Anna Quindlen and Natalie Angier.
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