A+H Plans for Harris: Physical and Mental Wellness after the COVID-19 Pandemic
UChicago Harris students come to our community eager to work hard, surround themselves with brilliant and competitive minds, and apply themselves to coursework, Harris student organizations, and occasionally academic-year internships. In all the commotion that accompanies UChicago Harris, it can be easy to neglect personal health. As Harris students grappled with coursework socially-distanced amid a Global Pandemic, the physical and emotional burden has never weighed more heavily on our community. With more than 50% of the United States having received at least a first-dose of vaccine, and as nations around the world race toward herd immunity, we want to keep physical and emotional well-being as a focus of our Harris experience. Our health plan consists of attention to the mental and emotional well-being of students, continued support for Long-Haul COVID patients, and recommendations to ensure students maintain physical health.
All too often, students at UChicago Harris overlook their own mental and emotional health needs. With the social isolation that has accompanied the first half of students’ study, the class of 2022 and 2023 may not have been fully introduced to the resources available at UChicago Harris. Should we serve as Co-Presidents, Aidan and Heather plan to build off of the efforts Fanmei and Andres took to keep students aware of wellness options at the University. We intend to raise the profile of mental health services at Harris, including but not limited to therapist-on-call, in-person therapy sessions, and workshops to manage anxiety. We also intend to continue the University’s efforts at destigmatizing therapy as a mental health resource. It’s our hope that through uplifting messaging and feedback from our student body, incoming students can productively use mental health resources available through UChicago Wellness.
Coupled with mental health, we will highlight resources Harristas can use to maintain strong physical health. At the top of this goal is prioritizing sound sleeping habits. Students at Harris and UChicago proper are notorious at maintaining uneven sleep hours: perhaps even boasting about their lack of sleep. Should we be given the opportunity to serve as Co-Presidents, we will highlight the importance of healthy sleep habits at encouraging productivity. Along with sound sleep habits, we will work with UChicago Dining to ensure food offered and displayed at Keller promotes healthy eating habits.
Alongside our initiatives to highlight how students at Harris can maintain healthy mental and physical health, a Coffey-Weller administration would work on behalf of COVID Long-Haul patients, as well as other students who are experiencing a disability. We understand that around 10% of COVID patients will develop Long-Haul symptoms, and we also understand that we may not have a complete understanding of the number of incoming Harristas who will have this condition. We are pleased to know that UChicago Harris supports registering students with Long-Haul COVID as patients with a disability, and we are encouraged about meetings our slate has already had with UChicago Harris to ensure students experiencing Long-Haul COVID can easily apply for accommodations with Student Disability Services whether they identity as having a disability or not. We seek to reduce proof of disability requirements for students experiencing Long-Haul COVID and other disabilities to ensure students do not face unnecessary burden. We also understand that historically, it has been difficult for students with disabilities to get changes in exam times or how exams are administered: we expect to make progress on this issue in the year to come. Due to the unpredictability of Long-Haul COVID and other chronic health disabilities, we hope student accommodations will be less cumbersome, and more expeditious. As Co-Presidents, we expect to be ready to support students in need of disability services, as well as support the entire UChicago Harris community in maintaining our health and wellness.