Last week, members of the Jed Foundation (JED) visited Kenyon as a part of a recently established four-year partnership with the College. Kenyon is participating in their “JED Campus” program, an advisory program for colleges and universities. JED is an organization that targets youth mental health and suicide prevention. Through this partnership, JED Campus will help the College with strategic initiatives to better support students’ mental health.
The College has teamed up with JED before for various fundraisers to support the non-profit. As the partnership with JED Campus develops at Kenyon, an interdisciplinary team of students, faculty and staff will work together to formulate policies focusing on campus-wide mental health and well-being. Associate Director of Health Promotion Holly Levin believes that this partnership will be beneficial for the College. “Becoming a JED campus and working to achieve the set initiatives shows Kenyon’s commitment to the mental health of its community,” she said. “JED has worked with hundreds of colleges and universities, so having their perspective on strengths and recommendations on areas for improvement will be helpful.”
The first year of the partnership is focused on creating a plan that meets the needs of the College. In the years to come, the JED campus advisors will help implement the plan and provide support as needed to build a platform that will be sustainable once the partnership ends.
Associate Provost for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Ted Mason is one of many at the College who have been working with JED to facilitate this partnership. Mason is proud of their progress so far. “I am very impressed by the JED Campus initiative and look forward to working with our JED Campus team as we embark on this four-year process,” he said. “In it, we will continue to support the mental health of our students, enabling them to make the most of their Kenyon experience.”
Kenyon’s JED campus program is still in the works, but there are hopes that in the coming year students will be able to work directly with it. For now, students interested in JED campus resources should check out the Jed Foundation’s website.