Lincoln University students open space for mental health breaks

By Payton Busselman

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    JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (KOMU) — Lincoln University opened a new place for students to take a break and relax on Tuesday.

The Zen Den has been a concept since last year for the 90th Student Government Association Assembly and has been carried on by the 91st.

“It did take a year to go ahead and get because anything good takes time,” said Asia Duncan, assistant director of student affairs.

However, this room wasn’t the idea of university staff: The Zen Den was built for the students, by the students.

“I feel like our students wanted to fight against that stigma of not wanting to help yourself,” Duncan said. “Our president made a good quote earlier that ‘self-care is not selfish,’ and I feel like a lot of people focus on that, unfortunately, in college.”

Lincoln University’s 91st Student Government President Jesse Canamore served on the 90th executive board and got to see the planning — and now the project come to fruition.

“I got to see (the previous president’s) vision and how much work she put behind just making sure that our students had a space to go to and feel at home,” Canamore said. “It didn’t work out just with the funding and what not, so the chance I had to make everything come to life I couldn’t pass on it at all.”

The idea was first brought to Duncan, and then brought over to Thompkins Health Center. The Healthier LU committee then began on the project.

“We emphasize creating a legacy for campus and leaving a lasting legacy,” Duncan said. “So this was their idea for wanting to leave a lasting impact on campus.”

For students to use the Zen Room, they’ll first fill out a QR code and enter their name and why they’re there, if they choose. A staff member will unlock the door, which locks from the inside to ensure no interruptions. After the student is ready to leave, they rescan the QR code to let staff know it’s open for the next student.

The den offers Kinetic Sand, a mediation bowl, a bean bag, a swinging chair, serene music and more outlets to help students regulate their emotions.

“A lot of the things that are in there are like just different ways on you can tackle your mental health, so we have like affirmation cards and then all of the stress items in there,” Duncan said.

Duncan also had help with supporting the students’ project from Chrystala Smith, the assistant director of counseling services.

“When they asked me to put it together, I had to go on YouTube and find what does a Zen Den space look like, what items need to be in place in that moment,” Smith said. “After that I just started going on to Amazon and pulling things together to make sure the space offers what it needs to offer.”

Canamore said that to achieve the Zen Den, they had to reach out to their community, faculty and alumni.

“Our alumni have so much love for Lincoln University, and they would do anything to make sure that we have what we have,” Canamore said. “They cannot help out what they don’t know. And so, being able to be that voice for my students so that they know exactly what our needs are and what our wants are — that’s the first part and the most important part.”

Duncan said that this space offers a holistic approach to mental health and offers a space for students to take a moment for themselves.

“It’s just trying a new kind of therapy for our students, because not necessarily everybody wants to talk to somebody,” Duncan said.

Smith hopes that this will encourage students to want to eventually seek help and talk to someone regarding their mental health.

“Once they come over here, they feel safe, they’re more apt to ask more questions, and as they ask more questions than they’ll say, ‘Can I sign up?'” Smith said. “That’s the whole purpose.”

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