After going strong for the last decade, Healthy Carolina celebrated 10 years of the healthy campus initiative Monday night at the Darla Moore School of Business.
“Today is a celebration, so we are going to eat and enjoy conversation,” said Crystal McRae, first-year masters of public health service policy and management student and graduate assistant for Healthy Carolina's mental health initiative.
Healthy Carolina has grown over the past 10 years to become a national leader for healthy campuses.
“Since we first got started, there has been a lot of momentum. Things kind of start out and they grow,” Interim Director for Healthy Carolina Jackie Knight said, “When other campuses look at us they’re like, ‘Wow how do you do everything that you do?’ You have to remind them we didn’t start out that way. We started out small just (like) where they are right now. And ever since then we’ve been able to take on additional dimensions of wellness."
The event featured a display board with a timeline of Healthy Carolina and all of the programs and initiatives that have been implemented over the past 10 years, local and national speakers, and a spread of food options all meeting the healthy choice criteria as well as Gin’s Juice, a vendor at the weekly Healthy Carolina Farmers Market.
Different representatives from departments around campus that also work to promote a healthy campus, as well as many students, attended the event.
“My U101 teacher is a part of Healthy Carolina, and she really advocates for us to go to all the events all the time,” first-year political science student Emily Strauss said. “She just said 'Come check it out, see what it's about, enjoy the reception' and so I just came to hear more about everything ... I think it's really great to have a really hands-on approach, like 'Here is the food! This stuff is healthy. Come check it out. It’s really good and tasteful.'"
For the first hour, those in attendance enjoyed the food and mingled with others. That was followed by a group of speakers including Gene Luna, assistant vice president for student development and housing and founder of Healthy Carolina, George Brown, a national speaker on healthy campus initiatives from the University of Alabama, and Deborah Beck, the executive director who spoke about what Healthy Carolina means for Student Health Services.
Healthy Carolina started with lactation services and tobacco cessation and has expanded to promoting healthy eating and physical activity by "focusing on the eight dimensions of wellness for a holistic wellbeing," Knight said.
As for the future of Healthy Carolina, Knight said, “A big part of Healthy Carolina is working on policy systems and environmental change because those are your lowest costs, broadest reach and highest sustainability ... And just continuing to be a national leader so other campuses look to us because the whole university should be proud of what Healthy Carolina has accomplished. Because it’s not just an office or department — it’s really a campus initiative."