Health and Wellness Services Records

The Health and Wellness Services Office (previously known as Health Services and Student Health Services) oversees several centers, programs, and services that provide medical care, counseling services, and education on health and wellbeing to Barnard students. Major centers within Health and Wellness Services include Primary Health Care Services, the Rosemary Furman Counseling Center, and the Francine A. LeFrak Foundation Center for Well-Being. Major programs include the Denise LeFrak Foundation Alcohol and Substance Awareness Program, The Wellness Spot Health Promotion Program, and the Being Barnard Violence Prevention Program.

Health and Wellness Services began as a medical office and infirmary in 1916 with Dr. Gulielma Alsop as its first physician. In 1947, Dr. A. Louise Brush was appointed as the first counselor to students. By 1963, the psychiatric staff had increased to one full time counselor and three part-time consultants. Since then, the Health and Wellness Services Office has increased and diversified its services and programs as notions of health and wellness have expanded and changed.

The Wellness Spot (formerly known as Well-Woman) Health Promotion Program is one of the longest standing and most well known programs within Health and Wellness Services. The mission of the Wellness Spot is to “promote the health and wellness of the Barnard student body through peer education, educational programming, individual health behavior consultation, campus-wide health campaigns, community outreach, and advocacy.” Topics and themes of the Wellness Spot’s programming include mental health, reproductive health and rights, sexual assault awareness and prevention, nutrition, eating disorders, stress and anxiety management.

Well-Woman was established in 1993 to centralize a variety of health education initiatives that were being collaboratively developed by several topic-based groups of peer educators as well as Barnard staff in the Health Services and Student Life offices. Peer educators are Barnard students who are trained by Health and Wellness Services to provide information about a range of physical, mental, emotional, sexual, spiritual, and nutritional wellness to the Barnard and Columbia communities. Peer educators have been and continue to be at the core of developing and executing the Wellness Spot’s programming.

In May 2022, Well-Woman changed its name to The Wellness Spot.

Sources: Health and Wellness Services BC05-21, Barnard Archives and Special Collections, Barnard College, New York, NY.

“About the Wellness Spot,” Barnard College, accessed October 8, 2024, https://wayback.archive-it.org/6655/20240918222004/https://barnard.edu/TheWellnessSpot/about.