The Health and Wellness Center supervises an hour of open gym weekly in the Jenkins Gymnasium  from noon to 1 p.m. 

Students, faculty and staff do not need to RSVP to attend Wellness Wednesday in the main gym. Most participants come to play basketball or walk around the court. 

“I’m not there to lecture you,” said Stephanie Jenkins, a registered nurse and the coordinator of substance misuse and wellness education. “I’m there to … meet you where you’re at. … If you have a question about the Health and Wellness Center, I’m here to answer that.”

The Health and Wellness Center, public health, kinesiology, sports medicine and exercise science programs worked together to offer this program this semester after receiving student requests. 

Students cannot access the main gym without signing a waiver and having a supervisor present. 

“If you’re coming there just to de-stress, everyone de-stresses in different ways,” Jenkins said. “Whether it’s throwing a basketball, walking a track, talking to a friend, it’s good for that. It’s a good form of socialization.”

Jenkins said future Wellness Wednesdays may include pickleball or some outdoor activities. 

Jenkins added attendance has been low but “slowly growing.”

Pre-med student Josh Mitchell and second-year business administration students Griffin Hinkle and James Ford said they accidentally stumbled upon Wellness Wednesday. 

“We just kind of walked into here,” Hinkle noted. 

They agreed they were just there to “shoot around,” and “have fun.” 

Jenkins said Wellness Wednesday is “an avenue to promote everything wellness within our office.” 

“Everything in our office is related to some form of wellness,” Jenkins said. “We kind of use the four pillars of health in our office, which is sleep, stress, breathe and move. So [Wellness Wednesday] is a component of move.”