SEE Campaign Launches at JHU

The SEE for yourself Monday campaign team at O’Connor Recreation Center on Monday night: Katie O’Hara, Barbara Gwinn, Anne Palmer, Max Vondrasek and Anne Irwin (left to right).

For two weeks in March, students on the Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood Campus seemed a little perplexed by the ubiquitous posters and signs lighting up plasma message screens. “Can you SEE?” asked one message in bright green letters on purple background. A few days later,“Will you SEE?” flashed on the boards. A week later, came “Do you SEE?”

The riddle was finally solved April 7 with the official launch of the University’s “SEE for Yourself Monday Campaign” at Homewood’s Fresh Food Café. The campaign, which encourages students to get enough sleep, exercise regularly and eat healthy meals, is sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, O'Connor Recreation Center, JHU Athletic Training, Center for Health Education and Wellness, Student Health and Wellness Center, JHU Counseling Center and the Office of Residential Life. Every Monday as part of the daily announcements, students are sent the Healthy Monday challenge—one healthy action to take during the week, and the accompanying research about how the action will benefit them. 

“The SEE campaign, which stands for Sleep, Eat and Exercise, is about helping students maintain a healthy balance of rest, exercise and nutritious eating which can have a positive influence on performance,” says Anne Irwin, fitness coordinator at the O’Connor Recreation Center.

The campaign is being deployed on the JHU campus this spring as part of a test for a larger program this fall, according to Anne Palmer, director of the Eating for the Future Program at the Center for a Livable Future. “Each week students will be challenged to take time out to balance and improve their health,” notes Palmer. The campaign is part of the Johns Hopkins Healthy Monday program which uses Monday as the day dedicated to increase health awareness and action.

Healthy Monday is a national network of health advocacy organizations, government agencies, hospitals, health and fitness facilities, schools, businesses and individuals rallying together to make Monday the start of a healthier life.

“Students need to take care of themselves,” says Barbara Gwinn, associate director, Center for Health Education and Wellness. “Research has shown eating healthy and getting enough sleep and exercise can improve your performance. Following the ‘Monday’ theme, our promotional materials urge students to use Monday to remind themselves to sleep eight hours a night, eat three nutritious meals a day and exercise 30 minutes, three times a week.”

Look for the SEE campaign slogan and messages to appear throughout JHU’s campus this fall, perhaps with a few unique twists, says Palmer. “We want this campaign to be entertaining and challenging!”