Quadai Brown (Qubrown@ursinus.edu)
A new “health hub” is on its way to the Ursinus campus! The module hub is going to be located in the parking lot of the Wellness center, an accessible space for new offices and student-specific services. The main purpose of this new addition is to have more space for offices, along with a vast array of meditation & relaxation areas. Overall, we hope this new space will be an enormous positive for the Ursinus community as it will allow more space for therapists, and wellness activities and staff.
We spoke with Katie Bean, Ursinus’s Director of Prevention and Advocacy, who is heavily involved in this latest addition to the campus. The official plans, including the name of the new space, are not completely finalized yet; facilities is currently working with the company that is supplying the flex space, the module that will consist of the new additional rooms, as well as the civil engineer. The name is still tentative, and they’re looking for suggestions, so email Katie Bean if you have an idea regarding what to call this new “health hub.”
With the introduction of this hub in the parking lot, there were concerns about the effect on students and faculty with cars. To prevent any parking concerns, Bean shared that the hub is expected to be placed “upon the paved portion of the lot (not the gravel lot) and therefore only take away the Wellness staff parking spots.” Although some spots will still be lost, there is hope that new spots will be created for the staff. However, the idea about new spots in the lot for faculty is still being considered as they “are trying to find a balance between what the civil engineer determines is required and what we know we need as a campus.”
Although this parking issue is a concern, there are also reasons to be excited. The new space will allow the school to house more therapists. This new health hub also creates space for more mental relaxation possibilities– a blue light room, and a space for Katie Bean to hold yoga sessions! Katy Dietrich ‘25 believes, “they are finally putting the students’ needs first for once,” and that Ursinus is “implementing new things that will actively benefit students– like to help with de-stressing and taking time out of their day to relax.” The possibilities with this new hub are truly endless, and we cannot wait to see what is in store for the Wellness department and how this can better serve our campus!