Health & Wellness

Wesleyan Town Hall: Coping in Crisis: A Discussion about Race, Faith, and Mental Health – 10/12

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When: October 12, 2020,Indigenous People’s Day 
 
Town Hall Description:Racial injustice and COVID-19 are exacerbating the mental health crisis in communities of color and on college campuses. This Town Hall webinar brings 4 prominent and outspoken leaders to the Wesleyan community to talk about their life journeys and explore issues about mental health, faith, culture, and brain science, with Wesleyan students, staff, and faculty. We will set this discussion amidst the background of systemic racism, the global pandemic, police brutality, social justice marches, uncertain job market, and struggling economy. 
 
Town Hall Panelists: Former NBA star, Olympic Gold medalist, and non-profit founder Allan Houston, Yale Professor of Psychiatry Nii Addy, Pastor Marichal Monts, leader of the Ebony Singers, and Angie Makomenaw, Mental Health Education and Prevention Coordinator at Wesleyan University. 
 
Moderator: Demetrius Colvin, Director of the Student Resource Center at Wesleyan University.
 
Audience Discussion Leader: Dr. Smith Kidkarndee from CAPS at Wesleyan.
 

Post-Town Hall Breakout Rooms at 7:00 PM:

From 7:00-7:30, we invite the audience to continue discussions and interactions with the panel speakers and moderator in breakout rooms

Room 1: Professor Nii Addy

Room 2: Dr. Angie Makomenaw

Room 3: Rabbi David Teva – Meditation Session*

Room 4: Demetrius Colvin

*The Meditation Session, entitled “From Theory to Practice: Cultivating Wholeness and Well-Being Through Contemplative Mindfulness”, will be led by Rabbi David Teva, with Tyla Taylor ’21 and Jada Reid ’22. Tyla is the Mindfulness Intern on campus; she leads the group Mindful Wes, a student group working to bring conscious awareness to ourselves, our community, and our environment by offering spaces to learn and practice meditation. She also helped start the SOC Healing Space on campus. Jada is a Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality intern at the Resource Center. She founded and leads the SOC Healing Space, which focuses on creating a community for students of color to explore journaling and meditation practices.

Thank you in advance for your interest and participation.

Salud,

Fitzroy ‘Pablo’ Wickham

Head Resident Foss Hill

Senior Class President

Wesleyan c/o ’21

Town Hall Coping in a Crisis

Upcoming Flu Clinics for Students

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This is a repost of a message sent by Joyce Walter on October 8th.

Dear students,

Reminder about upcoming flu clinics and note sent out earlier this week:

As we wrote to you last month, due to COVID-19 and the potential risk of influenza occurring simultaneously, the University is mandating that all students receive a flu shot by January 20, 2021. If you would like to get your flu shot on campus, please use the booking app to reserve your appointment during one the flu clinics being held at the Freeman Athletic Center on the following dates:

  • October 12—10 a.m.-1 p.m.; 2-6 p.m.  FULLY BOOKED!
  • October 13—10 a.m.-1 pm; 2-6 p.m.
  • October 14—10 a.m.-1 p.m.; 2-6 p.m.
  • October 15—9 a.m.-1 p.m.

The Health Center has a limited number of vaccines and will not accept walk-ins, so please book your appointment in advance. You must show a copy of your reservation (on your phone or printed copy) when you arrive at the Freeman Athletic Center’s Bacon Fieldhouse so please include your email when registering. Please also bring your Wes ID and flu permission form, which can be found on the Health Center’s website, along with more information.

The cost of the vaccine is covered under the student insurance plan, while students with private insurance will receive a statement to file with their insurance company for reimbursement.

You may also choose to get a vaccine at a local pharmacy. We recommend you call ahead for information and an appointment to the pharmacy of your choice. If you get a vaccine off-campus, you are required to send a copy of your vaccine paperwork to healthforms@wesleyan.edu.

 

Be well,

Davison Health Center staff

Visiting Students in Other Residences

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The following is a repost of the email message sent by Asst. Dean Fran Koerting on October 5th.

Thanks to the low number of COVID cases on campus,  effective Thursday, October 8, 2020, students living on campus will be permitted to visit their friends who live in other residences.  Posted COVID capacity in common areas may not be exceeded, and no more than two individuals may be in a bedroom at the same time, including the room occupant(s). Face coverings must be worn at all times. Due to the potential risk to the community, sanctions for violations are likely to be more severe than in ordinary times.  Please visit responsibly.

If the number of cases increases, or students are not following the guidelines of wearing face coverings and maintaining six foot distancing, this flexibility will be revoked.  We will revert to more cautious measures again in the beginning of next semester .

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Fran Koerting
Director of Residential Life

CAPS Drop-In Spaces

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The CAPS Literary Salon: A Narrative Therapy Group, Tuesdays 4:15-5:15pm

Facilitated by Tamanna Rahman, psychiatric APRN and Jonathan Perlow, CAPS doctoral extern. Time to read & write with a therapeutic focus. Explore issues of identity, relationships, and emotional struggles by engaging with the written word. Each session we will watch a literary performance, discuss how it resonates with our own lives, then have a short freewriting session with time to share after. Please email trahman@wesleyan.edu if interested.

Meditation & Awareness Practice, Wednesdays 4:30-5:15pm

Join doctoral extern, Jonathan Perlow in gentle meditation instruction and guidance to empower participants to directly contact and connect with their own inherent wisdom. In post meditation we will explore bringing our awareness practice into social dynamics, as we move into a discussion space where students can share their own wisdom, ask questions, bring curiosities, and/or raise concerns. Please email jperlow@wesleyan.edu if interested.

I AM: Soul & Tell, Fridays 4:00-5:00pm

Join Sara Jalbert, MA, LPC and Dr. Kidkarndee for a 5-week creative series focusing on connecting to different parts of yourself through music, memories, spoken word, photography, art and more. If interested, please RSVP to skidkarndee@wesleyan.edu by 4pm on Oct 7th.

FGLI, Fridays 4:00-5:00pm

Navigating Wes as a First Generation/Low Income student can be a challenging process. In an effort to support and validate your unique experiences, Neal Sardana, LPC will facilitate a weekly supportive space. Please email nsardana@wesleyan.edu if interested in this group.

Making Connections: Growing & Nurturing Relationships, Fridays 12:30-1:30pm

Join CAPS & SHAPE offices for a 3-part discussion series over this Zoom link exploring themes of communication, consent, boundaries, and self-care in the different relationships we have in our lives. Attendance is open and drop-in, so come to one or all sessions! For questions please reach out to Johanna DeBari jdebari@wesleyan.edu and/or Priya Senecal psenecal@wesleyan.edu

Oct 9th Roots of Healthy Relationships

Oct 16th Growing Together: Negotiating Consent & Boundaries

Oct 23rd Tending to Self & Others

Follow us @WesleyanCAPS on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter for the latest information on CAPS Happenings.

Angie Makomenaw

Mental Health Education & Prevention Coordinator

Pronouns: She|Her|Hers

Davison Health Center, 2nd Floor

WasteNot/Resource Center Appliance Donations

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Do you have appliances that are unused? Do you wish there was a way to donate those items?  DONATE HERE

The Resource Center, in collaboration with WasteNot, have organized a donation spreadsheet for Wesleyan students to donate appliances to fellow peers who may not be able to afford appliances (e.g. fridges and microwaves) to live comfortably.

Due to limitations of items donated to WasteNot, ONLY freshmen will be able to have access to the spreadsheet on Friday, Sept 11th.

The spreadsheet will be on a first come- first served basis starting Saturday, Sept 12

Waste Not Want Not Flyer

 

This spreadsheet acts as a medium, meaning that the students are responsible for contacting the individual donor for the item(s) pickup.

  • Students/Staff are allowed to donate more than one item, however please make a new entry for each item
  • When the donated item has been picked up, please change the color of the entry to red or email sfortson@wesleylan.edu or galice@wesleyan.edu
  • The donated item must abide by the university’s fire hazard guidelines, which can be found here.

Please note, if the item is large, consider borrowing a trolley from WesStation

Link to Spreadsheet

Public Health Update – 8/28

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This is a repost of the email Dr. McLarney sent to students on August 28th.

The fall semester has arrived. It is wonderful to see students, faculty, and staff on campus. Health Services has been busy at the testing tent on Andrus Field this week assisting as members of the campus community take their COVID-19 tests. So far everything is going smoothly, and we thank everyone for their cooperation and patience as we all get accustomed to this process.

To date, we have received results for 1,875 tests, with only one positive test result for an employee, who was immediately isolated. To remain informed about our testing results and procedures, visit Wesleyan’s COVID-19 Dashboard, which will be updated regularly. On the dashboard, you will find an alert level for the University, which provides context for the situation on campus, as well as a tally of active cases, cumulative results to date, and test results by week for all students and employees who are tested on campus.

We are also aware of several students who received positive COVID test results when they took a test prior to leaving home. These students have delayed their arrival to campus until they are medically cleared, and Health Services will remain in touch with these students to track their recovery.

As a reminder, we’ll be testing all students twice per week to allow us to detect COVID in the pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic stage and to isolate any infected students and their close contacts in order to stop the spread of the disease. We’ll also be testing faculty and staff who are working on campus. More information on testing frequency and schedules is available on our Testing website.

I feel confident in the safety precautions and community guidelines Wesleyan has put in place to make this the safest possible campus. That said, we expect to see some number of positive COVID cases in our testing, and are fully prepared to address this situation when it arises. You can read on the website about our protocols for isolation, quarantine, and care for students and employees who test positive, as well as our contact tracing procedures. Wesleyan has capacity to isolate at least 200 students in a combination of rooms we’ve reserved at the Inn at Middletown and additional rooms on campus.

It’s important to note that the isolation of a person who has received a positive COVID test is different from the self-quarantine that all students are required to take part in upon arrival to campus. Whereas those students in quarantine can leave their residence to pick up to-go meals and get their twice weekly COVID test done, students with COVID and close contacts may not leave the premises at all until they have been medically cleared.

A word on close contacts: Living on campus often means living with others—thus it is unavoidable that you will be considered a close contact if your roommate or housemate contracts COVID. But being the person who is “less than 6 feet apart for 15 minutes or longer” is preventable, and should be avoided as much as possible. Similarly, I must note that intimacy with others will put one at risk for contracting COVID. Please think twice about potentially exposing someone you care about.

If we all consider ourselves potentially infected and contagious in a pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic stage, we will act accordingly. When we get that negative test back, we will breathe a sigh of relief (wearing a face covering, of course) and then must consider ourselves potentially infected and contagious until the next test is back.

Finally, an important reminder that classes begin Monday, and will be delivered remotely for the first week, beginning August 31, in order to allow all students on campus to complete the required two-week quarantine. For those courses being taught on campus, in-person instruction will begin on September 7.

As we enter the fall semester, I invite you to continue sending your questions to me. We are all in this together and all learning more every day. Be safe!

Tom McLarney, MD

Additional Schedule Changes Due to Saturday (8/29) Forecast

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The following is a repost of the email Dean Culliton sent to students on August 28th.

 

Greetings!

Thanks to everyone for your cooperation in adjusting to the changes we needed to make yesterday due to weather.   Testing/Dining and Residential Check-in will return to their outdoor locations and times for today (Friday) and we were able to accommodate close to 800 tests yesterday despite the shortened testing day.  For anyone who missed a scheduled test yesterday afternoon please proceed to the testing tent today.

As we enter the first weekend of the semester, I’d like to remind you that we remain in a period of campus-wide quarantine, in which students must remain in their residence with exceptions only to pick up meals, receive COVID tests, retrieve mail, and sit or walk/jog outside on campus property. Until conditions improve, social events and parties with others outside of family units are not permitted. You can find more information on the Residential website. We’re all in this together, and we are each responsible for doing our part to keep our Wesleyan community safe.

With heavy rain forecast for Saturday,  we will again enact our rain plan for Saturday August 29 as follows:

Student Dining

Saturday lunch and dinner will move indoors for everyone’s safety.  Dining will still be grab and go and we ask that if it is safe to return to your residence hall, please do not congregate indoors at the dining pick-up locations for extended periods of time.

Please pick up your meals at your assigned locations with the following modifications:

Summerfields Patio will move inside the Summerfields dining room.

Pi Cafe patio will move indoors at the Exley Science Center Lobby (Enter through the Church Street side).

HiRise will be in the entry way of the HiRise building.

Usdan/Labyrinth will move to the inside on the first floor of Usdan (Enter through the West entrance by Fayerweather).

COVID-19 Testing

Saturday testing schedule will be truncated to 10AM-3PM.  Anyone with a scheduled appointment outside of those hours on Saturday has been contacted and asked to reschedule.   For those who had scheduled appointments and are able to come to the testing tent between 10AM-3PM, please do so. No need to reschedule online, simply arrive on site and we will work to accommodate you.

If you are scheduled for a test later Saturday and IT IS NOT YOUR FIRST TEST, please go online and reschedule for Sunday or Monday. You can click the link sent to you with your confirmation email and cancel/reschedule as needed.

If you are arriving Saturday and have not yet been tested on campus, you may proceed to the testing tent between 10AM-3PM.  As long as it is safe to operate we will be conducting testing under the tent. If it is determined that we need to suspend operations, we will close the tent. You may wait nearby in the adjacent Fayerweather Building/Beckham Hall (second floor) or in the Exley Science Center (lobby) until the weather passes or you may proceed directly to get your key at your assigned key pick-up location.

Residential Life Key Pick-Up Locations

Please review the information that has been sent to you about checking in to Residential Life and picking up your keys. Due to the inclement weather, the key pick-ups on Saturday will be moved under cover as follows:

Butterfield check-in moved to Butterfield A Lounge.

Clark Hall check-in moved to Clark Hall Lobby.

HiRise check-in moved to the HiRise Lobby.

Rear of Hewitt 8/Mocon Circle check-in moved to Hewitt 9 Lounge.

Foss Hill Drive check-in moved to Fauver Lounge.

Please note that Residential Life Check in hours on Sunday will now be 10AM-4PM.

We’ve made all of these changes in the interest of safety. Thank you for your understanding. Please pay attention to any additional weather reports for any changing conditions.  At this point today and Sunday look like beautiful days and we expect to operate our full days at the outdoor locations.

 

Best,

Rick Culliton, Dean of Students

Wesleyan University

COVID-19 Bystander Intervention Workshop TODAY – 8/28

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This is repost of an email by Dean Whaley to students on August 28th.

 

Dear Students,

This is a reminder that WesWell (Wesleyan’s Health Education Office) will be hosting a COVID-19 Bystander Intervention workshop via Zoom on Friday at 3pm EDT.

Originally developed to teach students how to safely intervene to reduce sexual violence and high-risk drinking, this skill set can be used to address many potential harms.  Our ability to have an in-person semester together on campus during the pandemic will rely on each of us intervening to keep the community healthy and safe.  This virtual workshop will serve as an introduction for those not familiar with bystander intervention or as a refresher for those already using these tools.

Please join the discussion!

Anna Nguyen ‘22, WSA Student Life Committee Chair

Dean Mike Whaley, Vice President for Student Affairs

Schedule Changes Due to Severe Weather Forecast – 8/27

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The following is the repost of the email sent to all students by Dean Rick Culliton on August 27th.

To the campus community,

Due to expected thunderstorms and high winds forecast for later today we are alerting you to the following changes to scheduled activity on campus today.

Student Dining

Today for lunch and dinner, each of the outdoor dining stations will be moved indoors for everyone’s safety.  Dining will still be grab and go and we ask that if it is safe to return to your residence hall, please do not congregate indoors at the dining pick-up locations for extended periods of time.

Please pick up your meals at your assigned locations with the following modifications:

Summerfields Patio will move inside the Summerfields dining room.

Pi Cafe patio will move indoors at the Exley Science Center Lobby (Enter through the Church Street side).

HiRise will be in the entry way of the HiRise building.

Usdan/Labyrinth will move to the inside on the first floor of Usdan (Enter through the West entrance by Fayerweather).

COVID-19 Testing

There are over 700 scheduled appointments at the testing tent today. For those of you who are able to come to the testing tent earlier this morning before the weather deteriorates, please do so. No need to reschedule online, simply arrive on site and we will work to accommodate you.

If you are scheduled for later today and IT IS NOT YOUR FIRST TEST, please go online and reschedule for tomorrow or Saturday. You can click the link sent to you with your confirmation email and cancel/reschedule as needed.

If you are arriving today and have not yet been tested on campus, you may proceed to the testing tent.  As long as it is safe to operate we will be conducting testing under the tent. If it is determined that we need to suspend operations, we will close the tent. You may wait nearby in the adjacent Fayerweather Building/Beckham Hall (second floor) or in the Exley Science Center (lobby) until the weather passes or you may proceed directly to get your key at your assigned key pick-up location.

If the weather clears we will resume the testing today under the tent up to our scheduled closing at 5:45PM this evening. If you miss your scheduled appointment this afternoon you may return to the testing tent later this afternoon (weather permitting) or early tomorrow morning.

Residential Life Key Pick-Up Locations

Please review the information that has been sent to you about checking in to Residential Life and picking up your keys. Due to the inclement weather, the key pick-ups have been moved under cover as follows:

Butterfield check-in moved to Butterfield B Lounge.

Clark Hall check-in moved to Clark Hall Lobby.

HiRise check-in moved to the HiRise Lobby.

Rear of Hewitt 8/Mocon Circle check-in moved to Hewitt 9 Lounge.

Foss Hill Drive check-in moved to Fauver Lounge.

We’ve made all of these changes in the interest of safety. Thank you for your understanding. Please pay attention to any additional weather advisories issued later today.

Best,

Rick Culliton

Dean of Students

Wesleyan University

COVID Testing Follow Up

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This is a repost of the message Dean Culliton sent to students on August 26th.

 

Dear Students,

I am following up my message from last week about testing with a reminder for all of you.  Please use this link now to schedule a test for your arrival date/time to campus.  If you are planning to arrive over the coming days, it is essential that you schedule your test so we can anticipate the volume of tests on each day.

(Tips to troubleshoot scheduling link: Make sure you aren’t logged in as another user, log out of any browser that you may be in, log back into the Wesportal using your Wesleyan credentials, once on the testing page make sure you are using Eastern Standard Time

Additionally, for those of you who are already on campus, please go into the portal and schedule your 2nd and 3rd tests at this time.  This week you should be using the following possible frequency(Monday-Thursday) (Tuesday-Friday) (Wednesday-Saturday)(Thursday-Sunday)

We will have testing hours from 8AM-5:45PM Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday of this week.

Beginning on August 31, we would like for each of you to shift to either Monday-Thursday or Tuesday Friday as we won’t have weekend hours the following weekend. You can also schedule your tests for next week at this point as well.

Read below for more details on the testing process.

Best, Dean Rick

From: Rick Culliton <announcement@wesleyan.edu>
Reply-To: “announcement@wesleyan.edu” <announcement@wesleyan.edu>
Date: Thursday, August 20, 2020 at 11:18 AM
Subject: COVID-19 Testing and Next Steps

Dear students,

I am writing with information about your return to campus and the University’s plans for COVID-19 testing.

Students, faculty, and staff will schedule their tests for COVID-19 at covidtesting.wesleyan.edu or within their WesPortal in the COVID-19 Resources bucket. Users can select a preferred date and time for testing and once a test has been booked, the user will receive an email confirming the upcoming appointment.

Wesleyan, along with more than 50 other colleges and universities, had planned to use software developed by CoVerified to assist with scheduling tests, delivering results, and more. This software is not yet ready to be used. Wesleyan will deploy CoVerified if and when we are confident that it will meet the expectations of our students, faculty, and staff.

The Testing Process

All of the testing will take place under a large tent on Andrus Field, with six-foot distancing enforced. We will have medical staff on site to assist with the testing process. The testing processinvolves a self-administered nasal swab that should take three to five minutes to complete. Please be patient as we expect there may be some delays in getting everyone accustomed to the process. Learn more about our testing partner, the Broad Institute.

Here are the next steps for you:

  • Read and consent to participate in COVID-19 testing on campus via your WesPortal as a condition of returning to campus for the fall semester. You will receive email confirmation after you submit your consent form. Please be prepared to show testing staff an electronic or a paper copy of this confirmation the first time you come to the testing tent.
  • Where possible, complete a COVID-19 test at home within 72 hours of returning to campus. Email a copy of your result (a photo is fine) to healthforms@wesleyan.edu. If your test comes back positive, you have symptoms, or you have a known COVID-19 exposure, please stay home. Contact your primary care physician, and inform Wesleyan’s Health Services medical staff. You will not be permitted to come to campus until you have been medically cleared.
  • Update your personal contact information and emergency contact information in WesPortal. We need to be sure that the mobile number we have on file is correct.
  • Schedule an appointment for your first test upon your arrival to campus. To do this, please visit covidtesting.wesleyan.edu. You will be prompted to log in to your WesPortal. (If you are already logged in to your WesPortal, you can get to the site by clicking “Schedule COVID-19 Test” in the COVID-19 Resources bucket.) You can select a preferred date (it should be the day you arrive on campus) and time for testing. Once a test has been booked, you will receive an email confirmation of the upcoming appointment.
  • Please remember that while we have staggered the arrival of students over the week of the August 24 to reduce congestion on campus, there are a limited number of testing slots each hour, so please be patient if you aren’t able to schedule an appointment at your preferred time.  You will need to complete the test prior to going to your residence hall to pick up your key.  (If you arrive after the testing site closes for the day, you will be directed to Public Safety to pick up your key and you will be required to get your first test when the testing center opens the following morning.)
  • Students will be tested twice per week. Tests should be scheduled at least three days apart, and individuals are encouraged to adhere to a regular testing cadence (e.g., Monday/Thursday, Tuesday/Friday). Appointments are scheduled for 15 minutes.
  • The expected turnaround time of test results is 24 to 36 hours. You will be able to access your test results through a portal on the Broad Institute’s website. When your results are ready, you will receive an email containing a link to click, which will take you to a login on the Broad Institute’s website. The first time you log in, you will need to verify your local address and phone number (mobile number, if you have one). Once you complete authentication, you will set up a password and be able to access your test results.
  • Any student who receives a positive test result will be contacted by a member of Health Services to inform them of the result, assess how they are feeling, and guide them through the next steps. In the rare instance that the student is having worrisome symptoms, they will be transported to Middlesex Hospital for further care. Otherwise, they will be asked to stay in place until arrangements for isolation can be made. The student will be isolated for at least 10 days from the time that the test was conducted and/or the onset of symptoms. Food will be delivered twice daily, and Health Services staff will conduct daily wellness checks.

We know you may have additional questions about testing. Dr. McLarney and I are hosting a Testing webinar for students today at 1 p.m. to answer your questions. Learn more about our plans for testing, and see a checklist of everything you should do before arriving on campus.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Dean Rick Culliton

Dean of Students

Chair, Pandemic Planning Committee

Wesleyan University