Elon community members sat around El Centro’s kitchen island for the Black History Month “Health and Healing” event Feb. 17. The Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education hosted the event with Elon Counseling Services to open the space to promote intentional eating habits with balanced meals.
CREDE student coordinators facilitated the event by making “hidden” veggie mac and cheese, quinoa popcorn chicken and chocolate zucchini bread, while having discussions about health and wellbeing on campus. Sophomore Adriana Clarke, co-facilitator and member of the CREDE’s Black Success Team, said the idea came from a larger discussion on health in the Black community during Elon’s Intersect: Diversity and Leadership Conference last year.
“This is more of an educational event,” Clark said. “In the Black community, we can expand more with our wellness. This event is going to shape how we, especially the Black students at Elon, can direct our health wellness to show them that they have resources and options.”
Participants mix batter for the chocolate zucchini bread utilizing the CREDE cooking pamphlet for the "Health and Healing" event on Feb. 17.
Family meals have always been at the center of Elon counselor Charles Evans' life. His most enjoyable moments were surrounded by people. Evans encouraged participants to engage with intention eating, along with intentional thought when developing relationships with food.
“I’m Black and within my community, my family celebrates simple moments,” Evans said. “We’re surrounded by food. Eating food around the dinner table was really important. That’s what shaped my relationship with food.”
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community found in 2023 that one-in-two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness, which can come with increased levels for heart disease and stroke. Evans demoed his counseling sessions with students at the event, asking if they prioritize themselves, appreciating oneself and setting goals to be less stressed.
“Counseling Services always have the intention to make sure we are advocating to communities that may not be well represented,” Evans said. “Black History Month is really the opportunity to talk to the Black community about why therapy is important in a very relaxed place. Therapy has this intimidating air around it, but you have the opportunity to do the most important work.”
Men’s mental health has been a growing topic of concern in the U.S, especially among underrepresented communities. The U.S. Department of Human and Health Services’ Office of Minority Health reports that the death rate from suicide for Black or African American males was more than four times higher than for Black or African American females.
Co-facilitator and member of the CREDE’s Black Success Team junior Michaela Williams said Evans was invited to help lead the event to be an example for the Black community to be more welcoming to counseling, especially for Black men.
“It’s really a taboo thing to talk about in the Black community, but also for Black men,” Williams said. “They often get told you can’t speak on your mental health. The image we have of being a manly man is very prevalent in the Black community.”
Evans will be leading W.A.V.E — Weathering Adversity and Varying Experiences — a weekly counseling service beginning Feb. 28 at 3 p.m. teaching individuals to swim and face a combination of barriers, from body positivity to anxiety. Registration is required by emailing Evans at gevans9@elon.edu or consulting individual clinicians before the start date.
This was the CREDE’s fourth event in their Black History Month Calendar, after its “Black Table Talk: Legacy in Motion,” Tiny Shelf concert, and Black History Month Kickoff. The CREDE will continue to host events all month until the Black Solidarity Conference. All students, faculty, staff and community members are welcome to attend.
Benji Stern contributed to the reporting of this story.