To spread awareness, Syracuse University hosts National Eating Disorder Awareness (NEDA) Week annually. Events for 2020 begin Monday, Feb. 24, and conclude with a keynote speaker Monday, March 2. This year’s theme is “Come as You Are: Hindsight is 20/20,” with the goal of critical self-reflection in relation to previous challenges of self-acceptance.
“With the opportunity to bring awareness to important topics surrounding body image, body acceptance, eating disorders and disordered eating, NEDA Week provides the opportunity to open discussions surrounding health and wellness,” Maria Wood ’21 says.
NEDA Week kicks off with the “Come As You Are” Art Exhibition, available throughout the week within the Barnes Center at The Arch Recreation Lobby. The campus is invited to explore artwork that centers around themes of the week, wellness and acceptance. To participate please complete the Art Submission form. Art submissions are due by 4:30 p.m. today to Barnes Center at The Arch Health Promotion.
Additionally, compliments will be shared throughout the week and on campus bathroom mirrors! Share your compliment connection on social media by using #SUNEDAWeek and tagging @bewellsu.
In collaboration with Sexual Health Awareness Month or Frisky February, NEDA Week will feature keynote speaker, Sonya Renee Taylor’s The Body is Not an Apology: From Body Empowerment to Global Justice on Monday, March 2, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Newhouse Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium. Taylor is the founder and radical executive officer of The Body is Not an Apology, a digital media and education company with content reaching half a million people each month. Taylor’s lecture will be focused on education and empowerment that helps to reduce stigmas and enlighten communities regarding body politics.
Highlights of the week include the following. For a complete list of activities, please visit the Syracuse University Events Calendar.
For more information or to request accommodations, please contact Gwyn Esty-Kendall, mental health promotion specialist in the Barnes Center at The Arch, at grestyke@syr.edu or by calling 315.443.7273.
Story by Division of Enrollment and the Student Experience communications intern Abigail J. Covington ’19, G ’20
