Feb. 25 to March 1 will be Eating Disorders Awareness Week at West Chester University. This full week of activities will be a collaboration between the Women’s Center, Delta Phi Epsilon, and Sister to Sister. There will be events going on all week in places all over campus.
The week kicks off with information tables, manned by Sister to Sister and Active Minds, which will provide information about body image and eating disorders. They will be giving out free pens and pins and selling t-shirts for students to buy from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Sykes Student Union Ballrooms. Also on Monday is “Dude, Get Your Weight Up,” a discussion about peer pressure and body image for men hosted by Men in Action, which will be held at 7 p.m. in the Women’s Center. Monday is clearly a busy day because the final event happening on Monday is a presentation by Caitlin Boyle, the founder of Operation Beautiful to improve women’s self esteem.
The action-packed week does not stop there. Sister to Sister will be holding a “Scale Bashing” session on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Sykes Ballrooms.
The sisters of Delta Phi Epsilon will be hosting the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa & Associated Disorders Candlelight Vigil on Wed., Feb. 27 from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Sykes Common Grounds. There will be an open mic for students in attendance to share stories and experiences about body image and eating disorders.
On Thursday, Connecting Mind & Body with Yoga will be held in Sykes Room 115 from 7-8:30 p.m. This free beginner session, led by former president of Sister to Sister Caiti Croke, will focus on body acceptance and awareness.
Eating Disorders Awareness Week will wind down on Fri., March 1 with Mama Jugs, an award-winning one-woman play that addresses breast cancer and body image issues. The play features comedy, improv, and audience interaction.
Eating Disorders Awareness Week offers students many empowering events to attend, but if students feel uncomfortable attending these events but still feel as if they need help, there are many resources right here on West Chester’s campus. The on-campus Counseling Center and Women’s Center are both on the second floor of the Lawrence Center, and their websites are, respectively, wcupa.edu/counselingcenter and wcupa.edu/womenscenter. Students can also visit the Health and Wellness Center or Nutrition Services on the second floor of Wayne Hall. The Office of Wellness Education website is wcupa.edu/wellness, Student Health Services is wcupa.edu/health, and the Nutrition Services website is wcupa.edu/nutrition. Lastly, the Sister to Sister Peer Mentors website can be accessed at roadrunner.cs.wcupa.edu/peer.
If any readers need help or if they know someone who does, don’t wait; get in touch with one of these resources today and save a life.
Clare Haggerty is a second-year student majoring in English writing. She can be reached at CH757342@wcupa.edu or quadnews@wcupa.edu.