CAPS looks to use green spaces to lower stress levels

In response to collegiate stress levels, one school — Wake Forest University — recently implemented subtle innovations to their campus to enable students to improve their well-being.

Wake Forest hired Dan Biederman, who livened up New York’s Bryant Park, to make similar transformations to the green spaces on the school’s campus. What were empty green spaces before the transformation are now home to a piano, two carts with board games and exercise equipment, tables and chairs, outdoor classrooms, a foosball table and more.

Wake Forest Provost Rogan Kersh explained that this transformation is a reflection of the school’s “long tradition … of attending to students’ well-being.” Kersh, who has done extensive research on our generation — “Generation Y” — realizes the importance of attending to this generation’s unique needs.

“I would say that a lot of universities tend to have curricula and programs for students that have been there a long time — they don’t change much, or they tend to be programs for dimly remembered 18-year-old versions of ourselves,” he said.

The project was “not expensive at all,” costing several tens of thousands of dollars, according to Kersh.

He explained that the subtle introduction of these new features was central to the plan.

“The key was that we didn’t announce this as a big new program to … enhance [students’] well-being. We just put things there to see what happens,” he said.

The student response to the transformation has been positive. “Before, when I first got here, I noticed that people would sit out on the quad and read or do their homework, and now people are doing all these other activities,” Wake Forest freshman Eric Ramsey said.

Director of Counseling and Psychological Services William Alexander said that Penn is working to implement a similar concept in addition to existing programs. “It’s good to just have things be spontaneous and that are supportive of community building,” he said.

A current program, the iComm Initiative — a series of surveys and workshops on stress management — has the goal of reducing stress through social connections and community building. The Penn Program for Mindfulness aims to teach students to manage stress and enhance well-being through mindfulness and meditation.

Additionally, CAPS is working to create a central calendar so “students can immediately find out what’s going on [and] don’t have to go to six or eight different websites,” Alexander said.

College and Engineering sophomore Alex Klochenok said he would welcome similar changes to College Green and other green spaces on campus.

“I think having benches, tables and board games on College Green could really liven up the atmosphere at the center of campus. Especially during the warm seasons, having an outdoor area to relax would really encourage students to sprawl out under the sun,” he said.

However, College sophomore Amanda Culp does not think Penn needs a transformation, pointing out that students already make use of outdoor spaces. “Students find their own creative ways to turn the Lower Quad, College Green and High Rise Field into a relaxing environment, whether that means playing music, a friendly game of soccer or Frisbee or laying around chatting with friends,” she said.

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