Illini Wellness Week

By Christina Oehler on March 31, 2015

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Recreation is hosting the university’s first “Illini Wellness Week” starting Monday, April 6 through Friday, April 10.

This student-initiated program is a set of 13 different events throughout the week, which aim to promote the health of the students living on campus. The events will take place at a variety of different campus locations, such as the ARC, Illini Union and CRCE, depending on the activity.

“Illini Wellness Week will be a campus-wide effort to create opportunities to make healthier life choices that include each wellness dimension, while removing barriers,” said Kathy Ruda, senior in the College of Media and Illini Wellness Week Program Coordinator. “Together, our campus units, local companies and national brands can help our campus support active lifestyles and improve the overall wellbeing of our students.”

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Recreation has paired up with the Counseling Center, University Housing-Dining Services, McKinley Health Center and the Women’s Resource Center to create a variety of programs and activities for students to take part in to learn more about the importance of healthy living habits.

Nationally-recognized brands such as Lululemon Athletica, KIND Healthy Snacks, Good Greens, DETOUR, Mamma Chia and alumni-founded JuiceRx have provided donations to the program to sponsor the events that will take place throughout the week.

Illini Wellness Week will kickoff at 8:30 a.m. on Monday with their first event, “Breakfast, Set, Go!” in front of the Alma Mater at the corner of Wright Street and Green Street. This first event will include free breakfast foods provided by the University Housing-Dining Services food truck, and aims to promote the importance of eating a meal in the morning.

Not only will the program focus on healthy eating, but it will also provide a series of events that will highlight other healthy living habits, such as exercise and physical activity, maintaining good mental health and instructions to perpetuate financial wellness.

Campus organizations that will be sponsoring this program that specifically deal with mental health, such as the Counseling Center and the Women’s Resource Center, will provide activities that aim specifically at providing students with mental wellness.

On Monday, the event will include free massages organized by the Counseling Center as part of a stress management workshop, and the Women’s Resource Center will provide educational resources on positive body image.

Later in the week, Illini Wellness Week will offer a free cooking class, a free yoga class and a free strength training class. The program will also host a free rock climbing event and will provide educational presentations focusing on personal wellness.

“Health seems to be taken for granted until it fails us. If you take preventative action and make healthy habits that last now, your body will be thanking you for years to come.” said Ruda.

Ruda’s vision for bringing campus units together to promote student health began when she realized how many of the resources available to students were going unnoticed. As a senior undergraduate, Ruda decided it would be her last opportunity as a student to leave a mark on the university, so she began reaching out to campus organizations and health food companies that she believed college students would be interested in. Ruda organized the promotion of Illini Wellness Week through the different on-campus health service buildings as well.

Janet Kroencke, Assistant Director of Student Wellness at University of Illinois Campus Recreation, said that Ruda’s work to create the program is beneficial to a positive event outcome.

“I was happy to see a student take this project on,” said Kroencke. “It is important to the mission of the campus and the student perspective is key to the success of such an event.”

Lisa Fernandez, a sophomore in the College of Fine and Applied Arts and a member of the ARC, plans on attending many of the various activities that will take place during Illini Wellness Week. Fernandez learned about Illini Wellness Week through posters promoting the event at the ARC. She said that she specifically looks forward to the free cooking and yoga classes that will be provided.

“I try to make an effort to take advantage of the programs the University offers for students, because it is pretty convenient that our campus provides so many services for us,” said Fernandez. “I think it’s great that they’re offering interesting options for students to become healthy, because the typical treadmill workout gets boring.”

As a first-year program, Ruda said that she anticipates a positive outcome for the event. Ruda said that the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs hopes to make Illini Wellness Week an annual campus tradition.

“All too often, health and wellbeing become a lower priority when urgent organizational matters come up; coincidentally, this is also when healthy wellbeing is needed most,” said Ruda.  “I hope that this week can inspire others to put their health first and make their wellbeing a priority in their lives.”

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