Strengthening skills to cope with stress 

Strengthening skills and resources to cope with stress

Feb. 27, 2020 LA GRANDE, Ore. – The 5th annual Stress Less event at Eastern Oregon University provides students with skills and resources to cope with stress in healthy and productive ways to improve overall health and wellbeing. 

The event runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., on Wednesday, March 4 in Quinn Coliseum.

The largest student-led event on campus, Stress Less offers experiential learning for students in Kelly Rice-McNeil’s Program Planning course. The class spends eight weeks of winter term identifying the needs of EOU students and planning an event to address them. Students in the class orchestrate activities, vendors, donors and volunteers.

Games, free massages, open rock wall climbing, therapy animals, crafts and other relaxing activities will be available at the event. 

“This event will introduce students to campus and community resources they can utilize to cope with stress,” Norton said.

On-campus groups have a presence at the event to promote awareness about their services. The EOU Multicultural Center, ASEOU, Learning Center, TRIO, Outdoor Adventure Program, One-Up Game Club, and Student Health Center will be in attendance. 

Sodexo Food Services, the primary sponsor of Stress Less, donated over $1,000 of food for the event. Several local businesses also provide free food and drinks, including Hought’s 24 Flavors, Domino’s Pizza and Marketplace Fresh Foods. 

“Stress contributes to poor health outcomes in college students. If stress is managed effectively, health outcomes and quality of life improve,” Norton said. 

For more information, contact Kelly Rice-McNeil at krice@eou.edu. 

Written by PR Intern Briana Rosenkranz.