The KnightFit team at Mount Saint Mary College. From left: Orin Strauchler, assistant dean of Student Support Services and director of Counseling; Fr. Gregoire Fluet, Mount chaplain and director of Campus Ministry; Mack the Knight, Mount mascot; Ashley Retta, project coordinator for the Office of Violence Prevention; and Doreen Bischof, FNP ’17, director of Health Services.
The Mount Saint Mary College community was proud to kick off the KnightFit initiative, which focuses on students’ health and wellbeing, on Tuesday, January 28.
KnightFit integrates Mount pride with student wellness to foster a community commitment to health. A KnightFit student understands that wellness has many facets, which includes not only physical health, but mental, spiritual, and relational health as well.
The Mount’s offices of Counseling Services, Health Services, Campus Ministry, and Violence Prevention will be offering KnightFit wellness programming throughout the current semester. The goal of KnightFit is to make wellness education integral to life as a Mount student, explained Orin Strauchler, assistant dean of Student Support Services and director of Counseling.
“Students have busy lives – they’re doing a lot and they’re working all day – so taking pride in being healthy is not always on top of their lists,” he said. “We wanted to make health and wellness cool, and we wanted to make it connected to their identity on campus…We also want students to understand that wellness is not just about physical wellbeing: It’s also about emotional health, relationship health, and spiritual heath, too.”
Fr. Gregoire Fluet, Mount chaplain and director of Campus Ministry, echoed Strauchler’s sentiments: “For a person to truly be healthy, they’ve got to be balanced in mind, body, and soul – it’s all connected,” said Fr. Fluet. “That’s what KnightFit is all about.”
KnightFit will offer students workshops on topics like creating and maintaining healthy relationships with friends and significant others, mindfulness and meditation, how to constructively cope with break-ups, violence prevention, using social media constructively, and more.
The initiative is already catching on with students: “I really support KnightFit – I think it’s a great idea,” said Joe Galasso of Plainview, N.Y., vice president of the Mount’s Student Government Association. “It’s easy to ignore your health when you’re a student and you’re busy, so this is a good way to get that back on our minds.”
KnightFit is sponsored by Dr. Michele Winchester of Vega & Associates, Billy Joe’s Ribworks, iHeart Radio, Medical Arts Pharmacy, Planet Pizza, and Fr. Gregoire Fluet, Mount chaplain and director of Campus Ministry.