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meredithherald.com
March 23, 2022
Professors Discuss Mental Health Days at Meredith College
By Shae-Lynn Henderson, Staff Writer
As the COVID-19 pandemic
continues, mental health has
become an increasingly important
topic of conversation. According
to the Mayo Clinic, around 30% of
college students reported feeling
depressed during 2021 and around
50% reported feeling “overwhelm
ingly anxious.” Measures to im
prove student mental health have
been discussed at universities
around the country, and one popu
lar idea is mental health days.
Dr. Betty-Shannon Prevatt,
Assistant Professor of Psychology,
noted that “neurocognitive science
tells us that if you are emotionally
taxed, your brain is not in a state
to learn.” She explained that dur
ing the early part of the pandemic,
“resources like social support,
family, routine exercise, stability
of jobs and school were no longer
accessible,” meaning that people
needed to find new ways of coping.
She said she believes this is one
reason for mental health days’ rise
in popularity.
Some professors at Mer
edith have implemented mental
health days or similar opportuni
ties for students in their courses.
Dr. Prevatt said she has “always
allowed two unexcused absences
that do not detract from a stu
dent’s grade...and allow students to
care for themselves when the need
arises.” She noted that the psychol
ogy department also has bulletin
boards on the first floor of Ledford
Hall including topics like “address
ing resilience, growth mindsets and
coping,” and that
psychology fac
ulty also include
mental health
resources in their
syllabi.
Lisa
Pearce, Associate
Professor of Art,
said she has “tried
to space [mental
health days] out
to fit two in [each]
course,” one be
fore the midterm
and one after.
“My first -
thought was to
allow these days
to be taken as
needed through
out the semester,” Professor Pearce
said, “but my concern was how to
adjust and get everyone up to speed
if they are missing at various days
throughout the semester. I am see
ing this semester as a pilot for what
works, and I'll reevaluate at the end
of the semester based on student
feedback.”
Dr. Tim Hendrix, Associate
Professor of Mathematics, does not
have mental health days built into
his syllabus but says he has “al
ways encouraged students to find a
healthy balance” between studying
and finding time for rest.
“I am not sure that plan
ning for them in my syllabus is
the most effec
tive way, but
other faculty
may find that to
be effective and
important,” Dr.
Hendrix said.
“At least, at this
point, I would
like to gauge
what's going
on in my class,
and adjust to
the students'
needs in that
moment. If I al
low the content
schedule to
accommodate
a mental health
day on a certain
date, that may not be the date
where such a day is needed.
Dr. Hendrix encouraged
students to utilize the many cam
pus resources Meredith College
has to offer. “Meredith College is
a small private liberal arts college
with community as one of its hall
marks. Part of that community is
that we care for and educate the
whole person,” he said.
Some Meredith students
have called for universal mental
health days to be instituted by the
College. According to the college’s
Photo by Elinor Shelp-Peck
Student Research on Origin of Cornhuskin’s Name
By Freya Dahlgren, Opinion Editor
Cornhuskin’ is an annual
tradition at Meredith with a rac
ist history that has been a topic of
discussion across campus in the
past couple of years. Meredith stu
dent Camryn Way, ‘22, has been
discussing her concerns with the
origin of Cornhuskin' and its name
with Dr. Daniel Fountain, Profes
sor of History. The Herald reached
out to Way for more information
on Cornhuskin’ and its history.
Way started off by ac
knowledging that she is “aware of
the archives explaining what was
‘meant’ by the term Cornhuskin’
originally.” She explained that
Doris Peterson, a former associate
professor in the Physical Educa
tion Department, started the event
on Oct. 30,1945, where it was
called the “Corn Huskin' Bee.” This
name remained for about a decade.
According to the Meredith
College Archives, the original in
tentions behind Cornhuskin’ were
to have “Halloween themes and
[to be] considered a Halloween/
fall celebration as well as a way to
honor the freshmen.”
However, Way explained
that Cornhuskin’s name ties back
to American slavery. “Corn husking
and/or shucking festivals date back
into the late 18th century and were
a way plantation owners sought to
speed up the corn-husking process
so that their slaves could return to
work in the fields,” she said. “Slaves
were encouraged to compete—typi
cally in teams—to see who could
shuck the most corn on the planta
tion. Slaves then celebrated with a
feast and a dance.”
Way said she has issues with
the use of Cornhuskin’s name at
Meredith for a few reasons. “Call
ing a festival ‘Corn Huskin’ has a
similar feeling to having a cotton
picking festival once a year,” she
said. “The word itself is not, in its
own right, distasteful, but it cer
tainly should not be used in any way
that references slavery.”
“Another huge issue I take
up with the use of this name is how
Meredith unintentionally hides its
true meaning within the media. If
you were to simply search ‘Corn
Huskin Festival’ online, infor
mation about this widely known
plantation festival is often hidden
behind Meredith College’s [Corn]
huskin’ information,” Way said.
“It can often take three to four
pages of searching to actually find
mention of the true connotations.
Meredith College has contributed
to burying., .the meaning of this
word.”
Way has asked classmates
if they know where the term
Cornhuskin’ comes from, and
most “stated it was a festival at
our school and something we ‘had
to experience’...not a single one of
them had any idea of the alterna
tive meaning to corn shucking
festivals.”
“It is genuinely appalling
to me that in this era of social
change and racial deconstruc
tion, we are still utilizing words
that had the meaning of shackling
2021-2022 Academic Calendar,
no college-wide mental health
days have been scheduled.
“From the faculty per
spective...! imagine mental health
days are a difficult tool for an
institution to administer if stu
dents want to retain a week-long
spring break,” Dr. Prevatt said. “If
we were to formally add mental
health days, I imagine this would
mean extending the semester.”
With this in mind. Dr.
Prevatt stated that “mental health
days are only one strategy to care
for emotional wellness.” To dis
cuss mental health and emotional
wellness, students can contact
the Counseling Center by phone
at (919) 760-8427 or by email at
counselingcenter@meredith.edu.
“I cannot speak for the
entire department,” Dr. Hendrix
concluded, “but I can say that all
of my colleagues in the depart
ment have taken seriously the
need for mental health aware
ness...Since COVID-19,1 think
that everyone—faculty, staff, stu
dents, literally everyone—have ex
perienced so much stress that we
are all more fragile emotionally
and mentally, not just physically.
People have dealt with so many
traumatic things in our lives that
it is no wonder we are all a bit
more fragile, and thus, suscep
tible to mental health issues.”
down and restraining under the
guise of enjoyment and pleasure. I
implore you all not to change your
traditions but to alter the mean
ing by switching the name,” Way
stated.
Way also referenced in
formation that Dr. Fountain told
her and another student who is
also conducting research under
the supervision of the Office of
Student Leadership and Service
(SLS). Way noted that the Belong
ing Panel the School of Arts and
Humanities held in 2020 dis
cussed many of the “changes the
college has gone through...[and]
some early racial conditions and
attitudes present in NC during the
college's first decades.”
For more information on
Cornhuskin’, visit the Meredith
College Archives in the Carlyle
Campbell Library and view the Be
longing at Meredith Panel on the
Meredith College School of Arts
and Humanities Facebook page.