Birmingham-Southern College has received a $5,000 grant to establish a campus mindfulness program, made possible by a partnership with the Trust for the Meditation Process, a charitable foundation encouraging meditation, mindfulness, and contemplative prayer.

The grant will help establish two different programming components: the creation of a dedicated meditation space on campus, and mindfulness instruction and training held in the space. The Trust helps provide these programs to schools, churches, and other organizations and institutions.

“The program is designed to bring a dedicated mindfulness space to campus and to provide formal instruction in mindfulness techniques from a licensed teacher,” says Dr. Joe Chandler ’03, associate professor of psychology and director of grants and special projects at BSC. “After that, we intend the space to be supported by a student-staff-faculty partnership, adapting to the contemplative needs of the BSC community.”

Chandler and Assistant Professor of Religion Dr. Keely Sutton serve as the project’s principal investigators, and they are working with certified mindfulness meditation instructor Cathy Wright, mother of Elizabeth Hall ’19, who will lead the training programs. While BSC has seen students, faculty, and staff create short-term mindfulness studies and opportunities, this grant will centralize these efforts for long-lasting impact.

“We hope that this grant marks the beginning of a mindfulness program that will be developed through the combined efforts of students, staff, alumni, and faculty,” Sutton says. “The first eight-week session in the spring will be virtual, and we are sure it will prove useful during this stressful time.”

Mindfulness meditation comes with many benefits, but many students often do not have access to the quality of programs that our partnership with the Trust will bring. Through incorporating this kind of instruction on campus, BSC can further exemplify our commitment to students’ well-being and education on the Hilltop.

Director of Counseling Services Cara Blakes, Director of Student Diversity and Inclusion Dr. Kristie Williams, and SGA are also dedicated to the project and plan to contribute helpful resources and guidance as it grows. The meditation space will be open to the entire BSC community, not just residential students.

“These last months have highlighted the need for resilience, and we believe this grant will help our campus community continue to adapt to the COVID crisis while building a long-term habit of collective mindfulness,” Chandler says.