Cornell University Kicks-off With New Chapter For Health And Well-being

In October, Cornell leadership signed the Okanagan Charter and made a formal pledge to promote holistic health and well-being across campus. The Charter provides a set of guiding principles for operationalizing this commitment across all facets of living, working, and learning at Cornell.

“These principles will help provide structure for the next phase of Cornell’s Student Mental Health Review, a collaborative process that has paved the way for a shared commitment to the betterment of mental health inside and outside of the classroom,” said Ryan Lombardi, vice president for student and campus life.

More than 100 U.S. colleges and universities are currently exploring adoption of the charter; Cornell is one of nearly a dozen who adopted it this fall – and was the first Ivy League institution to do so. Formal charter adoption signals institutional willingness to embed health into all aspects of campus culture, including, administration, campus operations, academics, and student life outside of the classroom.