A community-wide event to promote mental health and well-being.

What is the Wellness Fair?

It’s an annual event that brings together student leaders, campus partners, and community organizations to promote mental health and student well-being at BU.

The goals of the Wellness Fair are to:

  • Decrease stigma around mental health
  • Provide tools and tips for improving mental health
  • Introduce health resources on and near campus
  • Empower students to be proactive and confident in caring for themselves and others

Why is this event important?

Events like the Wellness Fair create a welcoming environment where students can connect about health topics that might otherwise be stigmatized or intimidating. We believe that the Wellness Fair helps students feel comfortable talking about mental health, learning about self-care, and utilizing campus and community resources.

What can students do at the Wellness Fair?

Students can do things like:

  • Cuddle with therapy dogs
  • Get a free chair massage
  • Take pictures in a photo booth
  • Play games like Giant Jenga
  • Paint watercolors and do crafts
  • Test drink pouring skills
  • Jump in a ball pit
  • Eat healthy snacks
  • Do Zumba
  • Win prizes

Students can also:

  • Talk with campus and community health resources
  • Find out myths and facts about mental health and marijuana
  • Hear about strategies for drinking alcohol in safer ways
  • Practice gratitude and learn how it relates to well-being
  • Show support for themselves & others by finishing the phrase, “Love is Louder than…”
  • Learn about mental health needs of LGBTQ+ students and how to be an ally

What are students saying about the fair?

Our evaluation shows that after students attend the Wellness Fair:

  • 95% feel more comfortable talking about mental health
  • 100% are more aware of mental health resources
  • 100% are more aware of ways to promote their mental health
  • 98% feel well-prepared to help a friend in distress
  • 93% are more likely to ask for help if they are in distress

“I thought it was a very supportive and educational environment. It was very nice to be able to step back from stress and school for a bit and spend a night focusing on mental health.”

“I was actually having a really bad day, and struggling with a lot of anxiety. And I’m not kidding, going to the wellness fair 100% eliminated that anxiety and made me feel so much better and I feel like I have more resources now. I’m definitely going to come next year!”

Campus & Community Collaborators (2016):

  • Active Minds at Boston University
  • Actively Moving Forward at BU
  • Bedsider Campus Reps
  • Behavioral Medicine
  • BU Arts Initiative
  • BU Hugs
  • BU Student Government – Mental Health Committee
  • Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation
  • Collegiate Recovery Program
  • Disability Services
  • ERC Ambassadors
  • Fitness & Recreation Center
  • Howard Thurman Center
  • National Association of Mental Illness (NAMI)
  • Samaritans
  • Sargent Choice
  • Sargent Wellness and Nutrition Club
  • SARP Ambassadors
  • Student Health Ambassadors
  • Wellness & Prevention Services