In response to the continued decline in mental health among college students, educators and staff at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) have launched a monthly mental health podcast titled “Light up“Each month, co-hosts Lolita Cummings and Melissa Thrasher sit down with an EMU student and a mental health professional to discuss topics like anxiety and depression, addiction, and other issues mental health issues facing today’s students.
Cummings, a professor of public relations at EMU, says the idea for a mental health podcast grew out of his experience in small classrooms, where interacting with his students introduced him to many of the issues of mental health of their lives. It wasn’t until campus reopened, after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, that she realized the accessible format of a podcast could have a positive impact on students.
“Everyone here recognizes that the mental health of our students is important and needs some attention,” Cummings says. “We thought a podcast would be the best way to give them the help that we’re trying to give them.”
Since launching “Enlighten U” in September, Cummings and Thrasher’s main goal has been to make the podcast as “student-centered” as possible. Cummings spoke with students to find out what mental health topics they wanted to hear about. After the broadcast of the first episode on UEM YouTube channel And Spotifythe two co-hosts took student feedback into account to adjust the show’s format.
“We created a student advisory committee that meets once a month (to) watch the show and provide direct feedback,” Cummings says. “We added chapters to our videos (and) made sure to focus specifically on the students and less on the scripts to make things more natural and less rigid.”
Student input has been integral to the show’s success, according to Cummings. Intern Nina Scarpelli leads the recording and filming process, and students Jaida and Jessica Turner produced the series’ intro and ending music.
“There’s no part of this exhibit that isn’t touched by students because it’s for them,” Cummings says. “It has to be research-based, but it also has to be what students want.” »
Thrasher, EMU’s executive director of media relations, says developing the podcast has been “an incredible and educational journey” and looks forward to its future.
“We were able to analyze a lot of topics that affect young people,” says Thrasher. “We hope the podcast will help improve the overall well-being of students.” »
New “Enlighten U” episodes are released on the 15th of each month. To catch up on previous episodes and stay informed, follow UEM YouTube channelor listen and subscribe on Spotify.
Rylee Barnsdale is a Michigan native and longtime resident of Washtenaw County. She wants to use her journalistic experience from her time at Eastern Michigan University writing for the Eastern Echo to tell the stories of Washtenaw County residents that need to be heard.
Photo courtesy of EMU.
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