Health & Wellness Fest

Andrews named Gold Level Campus

Dr. Torben Bergland, health ministries director for the Trans-European Division of Seventh-day Adventists, presented at the "Fully Alive" Lifestyle Medicine Symposium (Photo by Clarissa Carbungco, IMC student photographer)

From March 1–7, 2018, Andrews University held its third annual Health & Wellness Fest. The aim of this event is to inspire people to continue making practical positive lifestyle changes and join together as a University to achieve our goal of becoming the healthiest university in the world.

This year's highlight was the first-ever “Fully Alive” Lifestyle Medicine Symposium. Produced in partnership with the Department of Public Health, Nutrition & Wellness, this event featured international expert presenters, interactive learning experiences, expert panels, engaging express movement training, a cooking demo and even a completion certificate for those who attended on-site. The full-day event took place on Friday, March 2, and about 150 people attended locally with over 2,000 online viewers.

Abby Vaughn, student assistant for University Health & Wellness, says, "Both the fitness competition and Lifestyle Medicine Symposium fulfilled their purpose in showing people how to be healthier and that being healthy can indeed be fun. Reading the reviews, I do believe that these were effective in getting people to change their lifestyle."

Katia Reinert, health ministries associate director at the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, was the speaker for Thursday's Wellness Chapel as well as a symposium presenter. The other guest presenter was Dr. Torben Bergland, health ministries director for the Trans-European Division of Seventh-day Adventists. His presentation, "Mindwell," reflected on his belief that "the mental, social and spiritual dimensions of life are just as important for good health and quality of life as physical health."

Multiple faculty from the Department of Public Health, Nutrition & Wellness presented at the symposium, including Sherine Brown-Fraser, Carol Burtnack, Sherri Isaak, Gretchen Krivak and Maximino Mejia.

Symposium topics included building resilience for traumatic stress, awareness of the right kinds of food to fuel our bodies properly, and diabetes education.

Throughout the program there were five-minute breaks where attendees participated in various physical exercises.

Burtnack reflected, “It was an absolute privilege to participate in and to present at the first Lifestyle Medicine Symposium. We had a lot of fun sharing the theme of 'Going Further with Food' for National Nutrition Month in such a unique way to highlight the specialized nutrition needs of endurance athletes. I hope that having Laura [Malcolm] and Oliver [Glanz] be a part of our discussion on how they use food to fuel their rigorous endurance activities allowed the audience to fully grasp the idea of fueling our bodies through a variety of food choices.”

In addition to the symposium, the Wellness Fest also included activities such as a Wellness chapel, Total Body Fitness program, sing-along with Deliverance Mass Choir, group fitness activity, fitness competition, eating disorder awareness activities, and Tai Chi.

Dominique Gummelt, director for University Health & Wellness, states, “The annual Health & Wellness Fest is a celebration of the power of holistic wellness as a campus. We want to continuously educate, inspire, motivate and bring us together to join the MISSION to become FULLY ALIVE!”

During the Fest, Gummelt received word that Andrews University was named “Gold Level Campus” for the third year in a row. The title is awarded by the American College of Sports Medicine for being an “Exercise is Medicine” promoting and practicing campus.

This event was made possible by collaboration between University Health & Wellness, Campus & Student Life, Campus Ministries, the Counseling & Testing Center, the Department of Public Health, Nutrition & Wellness and various other entities on campus.

Both the Wellness Fest and being named “Gold Level Campus” show how Andrews University is taking progressive steps in its quest to become the healthiest campus.

To view an online video of the Lifestyle Medicine Symposium, please go to the University Health & Wellness Facebook page (facebook.com/aulivewholly) and scroll to the two different videos (morning session & evening session).

Stay in touch with what’s happening at andrews.edu/wellness/.