By Kylie Jones and Nayeli Alonzo
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writers
It all started with a simple email to her professors to let them know that she wouldn’t be in class.
For most students, missing class would only heighten anxiety and stress, but for Towson University freshman Zaya Chillious, the day off felt perfectly peaceful.
Her day was spent catching up on rest, eating comfort foods and watching her favorite movies.
“I took the time to catch up on rest because my week had been so long already,” Chillious said. “I just needed some time to relax and recoup.”
Chillious was able to take advantage of the newly implemented campus-wide “wellness day” that allows students to swap lectures for relaxation when the pressure gets too much.
“If you have a lot going on during your week, just knowing that you have that cushion to take a break if you need it and catch up on work, sleep and rest—it’s just comforting to know you have it,” Chillious said.
This approach, aimed at prioritizing student well-being, isn’t entirely unique to Towson. Across Maryland, universities have been redefining what it means to adequately support their students, moving beyond counseling centers and introducing programs designed to enhance student wellness.
From mental health carnivals to well-being summits and even horse-petting, all these efforts share one goal—shifting student support from conversation to action.
At the University of Maryland, mental health has risen to the forefront of campus priorities during the past decade. Many of the university’s wellness programs stem from the key findings of a 2024 mental health task force, co-chaired by Dr. Warren Kelley, the university’s senior associate vice president for well-being.
“I think students struggle with the desire to do well,” Kelley said. “Academics are hard, and they want to have friends and develop their own social lives, and I see the complexity of it all.”
As a result of the task force’s findings, the University of Maryland has increased the number of clinicians in their counseling center by 68%. Now, the number of health and wellness professionals at UMD exceeds 100.
“Pre-pandemic, there were times where a student could wait up to a month for the initial care,” Kelley said. “The last measurement I saw was 1.87 business days.”
Beyond improving the counseling center, UMD has implemented numerous programs across campus to support students.
Every October, mental health awareness week transforms campus into a carnival-style event designed to increase awareness of campus resources. The university also collaborates with its recreation center to get students engaged in exercise as a holistic approach to well-being.
“The more you move your body, the more you exercise, it can help address some of the depression that you’re experiencing,” said Chetan Joshi, director of UMD’s counseling center.
Meanwhile, UMD is also exploring more unconventional approaches, including an equine therapy program in partnership with the school of agriculture set to roll out in the coming months.
“There’s a lot of research out there that shows that interactions with animals and caring for animals, being able to take the attention outside of yourself to take care of another living thing helps in terms of your mental health,” Joshi said.
While UMD explores these new modes of well-being, Towson is redefining wellness in its own way.
The wellness day, which offers students one excused absence per semester, was officially implemented for the Spring 2026 semester after several years of debate. The idea was first proposed by the Student Government Association as a resolution in Spring 2024.
“I got to watch the bill go from being proposed as a freshman to going through implementation now,” SGA Vice President Liam Brinton said. “Seeing students have that relief that we provided for them has been extremely helpful.”
Despite being recently implemented, the wellness day has already seen positive reactions from students.
“I feel like this is something that we really need,” freshman Leianna Bronte Tinkew said. “A lot of students struggle with having overwhelming classes and sometimes just need a breather.”
Although this means students missing class, some Towson professors have shared optimistic feedback regarding the mental health day.
“The wellness day is a wonderful thing for students. We all need a day during a long 15-week semester to reset and recharge,” English Professor Michelle Barnett said. “Before this became the real deal, I would often tell students that school would always be here. Taking a day to themselves to protect and preserve their physical, emotional, and mental health and well-being should be their focus.”
The SGA is currently in the process of passing other bills aimed at promoting student well-being. Among them, a bill targeting suicide prevention and another focusing on classroom issues.
“A lot of the things we’re working on this year is seeing how to promote mental health with administration and how we could make Towson University as an entire campus more mental health focused,” Brinton said.
Beyond the SGA office, Towson is also the home of a Well-Being Collective, a cross-campus leadership group aimed at promoting well-being for students.
The collective stems from the Okanagan Charter, a framework guiding colleges to embed health, well-being and sustainability in all campus policies.
“This came from the president’s priorities,” Towson spokesperson Tyler Weigandt said. “This is to support holistic student success and to prioritize all aspects of student development including physical wellbeing.”
The Well-being Collective is set to lead the university’s upcoming Well-Being Summit on March 26, inviting members of the Towson community to act on mental health.
The Well-being Summit will feature speakers from various backgrounds, such as Jasmine Williams, an adversity and resilience speaker, and Bernadette Melnyk, CEO of COPE2Thrive and a nationally recognized expert in evidence-based practice in mental health and organizational culture change.
“This summit is kind of a unified front of university leadership, faculty and staff coming together to promote all aspects of well-being,” Weigandt said. “Our four pillars of well-being are mind, body, community and purpose and those are the driving factors behind essentially everything we’re doing.”
These mirror the goals of not just Towson, but many college institutions. At Morgan State University, this focus takes shape through wellness fairs, guided meditation, and music and art therapy.
Many of these programs are in collaboration with other campus organizations, such as the Office of Residence Life, to bring resources to students as they need them.
“As a collective, we make sure we are divergent with how we spread the word with materials and resources. We meet them where they are, so we can provide resources for them. So, if they need it, they can utilize it,” Da’Vel Kent, an embedded counselor at MSU, said. “We’re reassuring them that they’re not alone and they have resources at their disposal.”
The university’s initiatives have been met with positive remarks from students who have even gotten involved themselves.
“Students are definitely proponents and advocates of clinical services,” Kent said. “I mean, so much so that students who are leaders in organizations bring us to their meetings to talk about our services.”
Even with many transformations taking place, many students feel the work is not done on college campuses.
“I think we could have more safe spaces around campus,” Towson freshman Jamie Morgan said. “Just having more comfort and quiet zones where we can really sit, chill and relax.”
Her perspective echoes a sentiment shared by many students—although universities are taking steps in a positive direction, there is still more work to do.
Experts and students alike emphasize the importance of well-being practices being integrated into all aspects of campus life, noting that the progress made so far is just the beginning of a long-term effort to support all students.
“All of our other pursuits will go in vain if we don’t have the resources and if we’re not proactive about our wellness,” Kent said. “You can’t have academic success without individual success.”