President's Blog

Spring 2023 BIG Read Focuses on Mental Health

Since my arrival at Owens, one of the many initiatives I’ve enjoyed is our annual BIG Read. An initiative of our Humanities Department, the BIG Read brings awareness of different perspectives and prompts critical thinking of deeper issues through reading books, discussions and engaging in activities on campus and in our communities.

This year’s BIG Read focuses on mental health, mental illness, ableism and trauma. Such a relevant choice for our time, as the World Health Organization released a comprehensive report in 2022 that urges mental health professionals and advocates to collaborate and transform systems and environments toward better mental health for everyone. A variety of events are planned throughout March and April, culminating with a visit from author Stephanie Foo on April 27. Stephanie will appear at both our Toledo-area and Findlay-area campuses to discuss her book, What My Bones Know, conduct a book signing, and hold a writing workshop with our students.

In her book, Stephanie, who is a 2019-2020 Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Fellow, explores the science and psychology behind Complex PTSD through the lens of her own personal narrative of healing. In an interview with The Carter Center, Stephanie said that after she was diagnosed with Complex PTSD in 2018, she could only find scientific research on the topic. What she really wanted was to be able to read a personal, first-person story from someone else who had gone through the process of dealing with this diagnosis. When she didn’t find anything like that, she realized there was a space for her to share her own story.

This year’s BIG Read emphasizes that we must be intentional in giving one another grace. We never know what someone is dealing with or has gone through, so it’s important that we are adaptive to nurture a sense of belonging. I found myself very moved by Stephanie’s story and it has impacted how I hope we respond to each other as a community here at Owens.

Obviously, each person’s mental health journey is completely unique but our purpose remains the same: to meet each student where they are. We have many different populations among our student body and they each deserve to be empowered to reach their personal goals. That’s why I’m mindful of looking at everything from the lens of not just asking our students to be college-ready but rather asking Owens to be student-ready and other-centered.

Our Counseling Services is an important part of this work and helps provide leadership to create an environment that empowers students to positively respond to challenges and opportunities, which will lead to both personal and academic development.

Outside of the support students can receive through our Counseling Services office, there are also many discussion themes related to mental health that are included in the teaching tools that accompany the BIG Read series.

To get all the details about these exciting events, visit our 2023 BIG Read page. I look forward to the discussion about the book in the weeks ahead.

Dione D. Somerville, Ed.D.
President