The Health and Wellness Fair, hosted by B-Healthy: Healthy Campus Initiative, was held last Wednesday to educate and provide students with resources to support their well-being on and off campus.

Continuing with last year’s “Amp up your Wellness” theme, student organizations, off-campus advocacy groups and local businesses shared their missions and resources with students. Held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., it saw programming in the Mandela Room, Old Union Hall and the Tillman Lobby.

The fair featured a juice bar with fresh fruits and vegetables provided by University Dining Services and food items derived naturally from the indoor gardening systems in the College-in-the-Woods dining hall. Live performances, games and interactive activities were also held, including the chance to pet therapy dogs through the PAWS program and receive a chair massage.

“We wanted attendees to learn that wellness is multidimensional, be aware of what those dimensions were and various ways to contribute to one’s wellness journey,” Johann Fiore-Conte, an associate vice president for student affairs and the University’s chief health and wellness officer, wrote. “My hope was that students walked away with at least one thought about what they could do to improve their overall health.”

Throughout the fair, students received stamps on their “Passport to Wellness” cards, featuring the nine aspects of wellness and an additional three stamps from wellness activities. Once students filled out their stamp cards, they could enter a raffle, giving them a chance to win prizes.

Part of healthy living resources, Fiore-Conte recommended mental health services for students, like United Health Services, Guthrie Lourdes and 988, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Building on B-Healthy’s nine-dimension model of wellness, which recently added a digital component, the fair sought to encompass all aspects of wellness and demonstrate its multifaceted nature. The nine dimensions of the model include emotional, physical, social, environmental, spiritual, financial, occupational, digital and intellectual health.

“I realized I want to get more locked in on my nutrition,” said Nikita Almahri, a senior majoring in psychology. “Having those greens, having them fruits, and broadening my horizons — like not only chicken, but also getting the other nutrients, like the vegetables and the fruits.”

A longstanding tradition, the fair began in 2006 and predates the B-Healthy initiative, which began in 2012 with University President Harvey Stenger’s strategic planning Creative Activities and Research Road Map Team as part of his goal to make the University “the healthiest campus,” according to the B-Healthy website. After the fair’s 13th anniversary in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic halted many campus activities in 2020.

It was reintroduced in 2024 as a collaborative, campuswide effort with support from local businesses and other wellness advocates. This year marks the fair’s 15th iteration. Given the recent addition of the digital component of the wellness model, one digitally themed vendor was at the event.

More than 100 vendors, including student organizations like the Pre-Medical Association and community resources like the Crime Victims Assistance Center, were also present.

“We really take any opportunity to connect with students, since we provide services for any victim of crime, and students often don’t know that that qualifies for them as well, since they can experience sexual or domestic violence as well, and there are resources outside of the campus,” said Isabelle Beatus ‘24, the campus coordinator for the Crime Victims Assistance Center, who was tabling at the event.

Laura Cichostepski, an assistant director of communications and marketing at Campus Recreation, said she wanted students to understand the variety of services Campus Recreation provides.

“We’re more than a gym,” Cichostepski said. “There’s a lot of different ways to get involved, and there’s a lot of different aspects of wellness that we really help with, social and emotional. You build connections. We have different teams you can join, connections with others, with the natural environment and with their body. And we also do things like American Red Cross classes and massage therapy.”