Molly Flaherty was walking through O’Neill Plaza on Wednesday afternoon when she was drawn into the crowd of students at the Division of Student Affairs’ annual WellFest.
“I was inspired by the free T-shirts—I’m going to be so honest,” Flaherty, MCAS ’25, said. “But there was a lot more that I found here that was actually really helpful.”
Previously called Healthapalooza, WellFest is an annual fair that aims to promote student wellness and advertise different services available to Boston College students. Various on-campus organizations set up tables at WellFest to interact with students, including the Boston College Police Department, the Connors Family Learning Center, University Counseling Services, and more.
“[WellFest] is a great opportunity to bring campus partners together from all over campus to celebrate students’ wellness,” said Center for Student Wellness Director Jeannine Kremer. “It’s just to celebrate our health.”
Alina Zaman, who worked the Career Center table, said the Career Center is one of many BC student centers that recognizes the relationship between its services and student wellness.
“We definitely like to refer our kids to the wellness center if they’re ever stressed about [job searching],” Zaman, MCAS ’24, said.
The fair offered trivia games, posters to write gratitude notes on, and even a fire extinguisher simulator. Tables gave out various freebies, including bandanas, candies, stickers, and pens.
“This is great—[the Division of Student Affairs] did a fabulous job,” Vanessa Rigoglioso, MCAS ’25, said. “Very fun, very exciting stuff.”
To encourage students to visit the different tables, the Center for Student Wellness also created a “passport” activity, where every student had to visit 10 tables and get a card signed by a worker at each in order to win a free t-shirt. Students who visited 15 tables were entered into a raffle to win a $250 Amazon gift card, and every additional table visited earned them another raffle ticket.
During the fair, students were provided with knowledge about different groups they can get involved in, campus recreation events to participate in, safety skills and disaster preparedness information, and packets of Liquid I.V. distributed by UGBC, among other tips and giveaways.
Associate Dean for Student Outreach and Support Caroline Davis stood at the Dean of Students table encouraging students to learn more about the restorative practice “Circle Up.” This practice provides an opportunity for students to participate in discussions about how to authentically talk about one another’s needs and address harm in the BC community, according to Davis.
“What I think we want students to take away is that there are lots of ways to proactively be in the community to prevent harm,” Davis said. “And also, there are ways that we can work together to address harm when it happens that meets everyone’s needs and wants and actually works toward a solution that helps.”
Zaman said some of the goals for WellFest were to help students make connections with campus partners and learn how to balance academics and social life.
“A lot of students just say they’re in it alone,” Zaman said. “We just want to show them that we’re here for them and that we’re a resource for students.”
