One more Adventist university in the US is making sure a balanced development becomes an intentional part of its offer to everyone on campus, and especially to its students. Andrews University, a Seventh-day Adventist-managed school in Berrien Springs, Michigan, invited its new students to become part of the university’s push to help everyone live life to the fullest.
During New Student Orientation, Aug 20-25, all incoming freshmen at Andrews University participated in mental/emotional, spiritual and physical wellness checks and were invited to actively join the mission of University Health & Wellness (UH&W) to become fully alive by balancing all dimensions of wellness as part of their educational journey. Each first-year student also received their own University Health & Wellness water bottle and participated in a pledging ceremony on Friday morning to live life to the fullest with God at their core and center.
“This initiative has been transforming the entire campus culture, way of thinking, working environments, learning environments, policies and procedures at Andrews University,” says Dominique Gummelt, director of University Health & Wellness. “Our goal is to continuously work toward bringing about greater wellness and happiness so that students, faculty, and staff can truly grow to reach their full potential in whatever work and place God has called them.”
In May 2017, Andrews University received the recognition of Gold Level Campus for being an Exercise-is-Medicine-promoting campus for the second year in a row. The department’s first documentary film production, Jackie: The Transformation Project, has been shown in various locations around the world. The film received an award of merit at CLIFF (Christian Life International Film Festival) earlier this year and was recently nominated Official Filmmaker Selection at Kingdomwood Christian Film Festival in Atlanta.
As they gear up for a new and exciting year of continuing to transform the campus and its community through health and wellness, UH&W is looking forward to many new initiatives. These include Certified Healthy Departments, the Daily Wellness Theme, the 3rd Annual Health & Wellness Fest, employee and student Wellness Ambassadors and the beginning of the construction of a brand-new Health & Wellness Center.
“It is a privilege and an honor to work with President Luxton and administration to lead the campaign to make Andrews University the healthiest campus in the world,” says Gummelt. “I am excited to see how God continues to help us transform one life at a time through the power of health and wellness to help everyone live life to the fullest.”
This year UH&W is expanding their mission to become FULLY ALIVE to the local and global community, and they invite everyone to join in.
“This is an ongoing journey of Wellness Transformation that has infected the whole campus,” Gummelt says, “and we are excited to see what God continues to do.”
