Description: Racial injustice and COVID-19 are exacerbating the mental health crisis in communities of color and on college campuses. This Town Hall webinar brings 4 prominent and outspoken leaders to the Wesleyan community to talk about their life journeys and explore issues about mental health, faith, culture and brain science, with Wesleyan students, staff, and faculty. This discussion will be set amidst the background of systemic racism, the global pandemic, police brutality, social justice marches, uncertain job market, and struggling economy. The four panelists are former NBA star, Olympic Gold medalist, and non-profit founder Allan Houston, Yale Professor of Psychiatry Nii Addy, Pastor Marichal Monts, leader of the Ebony Singers, and Angie Makomenaw, Mental Health Education and Prevention Coordinator at Wesleyan University. The panel discussion will be moderated by Demetrius Colvin, Director of the Student Resource Center at Wesleyan University. The audience discussion will be led by Dr.Smith Kidkarndee from CAPS at Wesleyan.
The panel will last 90 minutes from 5:30 PM-7:00 PM. From 7:00-7:30, the audience will be invited to participate and ask questions of the panelists during the discussion. In addition to the breakout sessions with panelists, additional breakout sessions will feature mindfullness meditation training led by Rabbi David and mindfullness interns.