Healthy Jays advise students at Health Fest

A collection of student groups and professional offices known as the Healthy Jays hosted their Health Fest on Monday at the Ralph S. O’Connor Recreation Center. The Healthy Jays consists of the Center for Health Education and Wellness (CHEW), Recreational Sports, Housing & Dining, the Meatless Monday campaign and Friday Night Films.

Several organizations participated in the fair. The Hopkins Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) distributed information and had push-up and pull-up contests. The group exercise program at the Rec Center demonstrated how to set up and use stationary bikes and conducted an open Zumba session. Personal trainers provided free fitness assessments. ShapeU, a student-run start-up company, was present to provide information on how they provide affordable group training and had a plank contest.

The intramurals program had a free-throw contest, and the Interfaith Center (IFC) set up a walking labyrinth. The Meatless Monday campaign, the Diverse Sexuality And Gender Alliance (DSAGA), Hopkins Kicks Butts, Preventative Education and Empowerment for Peers (PEEPs) and CHEW’s new department of sexual assault prevention, education and response each set up tables to distribute information.

“The fair helps the student body know what resources are on campus,” Jackie Lebeau, event coordinator and assistant director of fitness at the Rec Center, said.

The IFC’s walking labyrinth was set up to demonstrate its possibilities for spiritual and mental health.

“[The labyrinth] is a way of incorporating physicality into meditation. It also symbolizes a pilgrimage, which is really important for a lot of religious practices... A lot of people think of it as symbolic of a journey that they might not be able to take at this time,” Ester Boyd, program coordinator at the IFC, said. “I enjoy walking the labyrinth because I think it helps you focus, and to be able to focus while using my whole body is more useful to me than sitting silently. By giving movement to your body, you can stop and quiet your mind.”

Daniel Villalobos, a sophomore and member of DSAGA, spoke about the resources DSAGA was providing at the health fair.

“We want to promote the resources, like the Trevor Project for mental health and the Human Rights Campaign, which is the intersection of race and LGBTQ life.”

DSAGA also made available a report on LGBTQ health in hospitals, which lists the most LGBTQ-friendly hospitals in each state.

Laura Pointer, an Internal Medicine doctor, represented the Meatless Monday campaign at the fair. She distributed free samples of chocolate peanut butter protein balls, protein bars and protein fudge.

“Meatless Monday is an initiative that was formed at the Center for Livable Future at the School of Public Health, and the idea is that you go vegetarian one day a week for your health and for the health of the environment,” Pointer said. “If you’re looking to build muscle mass, protein is probably something you’re interested in. In the spirit of Meatless Monday, we’re saying ‘Hey, meat isn’t the only way to get protein.’”

Hopkins Kicks Butts had a table with health facts about smoking and resources for those who want to quit smoking.

“Two years ago, we had a poll sent out to Hopkins and its affiliates, and 65 percent of people voted that they would agree that Hopkins should become a smoke-free campus. Since then, we’ve been working with the deans to take steps towards that,” Faith Owhanda, a junior and Hopkins Kicks Butts member, said.

PEEPs distributed bags of healthy snacks and advertised its various activities, including its regular outreach events.

Barbara Shubert, the associate director of CHEW, maintained a table representing CHEW’s sexual violence prevention efforts. This furthered the mission of Alyse Campell, the newly-created coordinator for sexual violence prevention, education and response.

“We’re just doing a little bit of education as people are coming through, to show a sampling of what those things [examples of consent] can look like,” Shubert said. “We’re doing this bystander intervention training across campus.”