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Emmanuel College students, faculty and staff are moving full speed ahead in year two of a four-year partnership with the JED Foundation, a nonprofit that supports mental health and well-being on more than 500 college campuses nationwide.
Starting last fall, the partnership maps out a four-year timeline for the College and marking a concerted effort to self-evaluate and improve mental health and well-being resources for Emmanuel students. The effort spans campus-wide, with a task force of 35 community members from a variety of departments. Since last year, the College administered a key mental health survey to students, received an assessment from a member of the JED team and launched a strategic plan to put all the phases of progress into motion.
This year is where a lot of the impact can begin, said Stephanie Parent, Associate Director of Residence Life at Emmanuel College. After prep work and valuable data collection last year, she said the JED Campus group can focus on turning that work into action.
The collective buy-in from everyone involved is perhaps the biggest highlight thus far, said the College’s Director of Counseling, Amanda Snow, LMHC.
“I’m very encouraged by the progress! To have involvement on this work from so many across campus and see so many lean into this work is huge. Any opportunity we have to bring student health and wellness to light is great,” Snow said.
Another point of pride, Parent added, is that students are even involved in the process as well. “It’s a big deal that they want us to be improving upon this too – it shows how much they care for the institution and the standards that they hold it to.”
Sociology and Political Science major Loliana Morales ’26 is one of those students: she’s been directly involved on the JED Campus initiative as one of the members of its task force. Having a voice in the process has allowed her to speak on behalf of her fellow Saints and give her point of view.
“Being in this position and sharing my perspective have been very impactful – I can share how students might see things differently,” Morales said.
She highlighted some of the taskforce’s main priorities: equipping faculty and staff with knowledge to support students in need as well as substance use and misuse programming.
“It’s incredible to see all the different people in the room,” Morales said. “Every meeting, they’re advocating for their students, and everyone is so busy, but they’ve taken this time to dedicate toward student wellness. You can feel every aspect of campus in these conversations.”
With existing programming on campus in regard to student wellness already, it’s not a need to reinvent the wheel, but rather to ensure that the programming is well-centralized and accessible to students in the way that they want to engage with it – and that they feel comfortable accessing it without fear of stigma.
Sofia Estrada-Hannigan, Emmanuel’s Campus Minister, is also involved on the taskforce’s work, and has recently been focused on the students’ engagement and awareness of existing resources.
This collective effort with the JED Foundation is a sign of intent from everyone at Emmanuel, Estrada-Hannigan said, and a commitment to continue growing and improving its resources for students.
“Sofia Estrada-Hannigan, Campus MinisterThe overall dedication to student well-being is foundational to campus life, and why faculty and staff want to be here. It's part of everything – it’s interwoven into the everyday and people across campus want to get involved whatever way they can.”
