HBCU Mental Health Day at Grambling State University

MONROE, La. (KNOE) – The HBCU Mental Health Day was a chance for students to participate in various activities and learn about contributing factors of mental health.

The event was held at 10 different HBCU campuses. Activities of the day included group yoga, meditation, African dance class, line dancing and educational discussions about mental health.

Ka’le Hogue, a junior at GSU, got the chance to teach her peers an African dance technique that she grew up learning. She says the Dunham dance form engages the mind, body and spirit.

“It really frees your mind ‘cause you’re learning how to do something different that probably a lot of people have not learned yet. So you’re not really thinking about things that are going on or class you have to take or tests that’s coming up, it’s really ‘I’m learning how to connect to my roots, I’m learning how to connect to something that I’ve never done before’,” says Hogue.

Dr. Kevin Washington, Associate Professor of psychology at GSU says the goal of having these activities is to bring awareness to the unique aspects of mental health challenges facing African-American communities.

“This is a way to address challenges that populations face, that are unique to that population. And so it’s not an issue of separating out for the sake of being separate, but separating out for the sake of understanding that there’s some unique challenges that are facing African American students on a day-to-day basis,” says Washington.

Washington says they have gotten great feedback and participation from the student body. He hopes they can do it again in the coming years.

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