On October 30, 2024, the Francine A. LeFrak Foundation Center for Well-Being sprang to life, bringing to Barnard a groundbreaking resource to promote integrative wellness. Since opening its doors, the redesigned, renovated space within Barnard Hall has been filled with chatter, the hum of ellipticals, and much excitement. Situated at the heart of campus, it has quickly become a favorite place for the Barnard community, where students, faculty, and staff can connect with well-being — physical, mental, and financial — in new and innovative ways.
“This new, state-of-the-art space is already bringing so much joy to our students,” says President Laura Rosenbury. “Whether I’m passing through Barnard Hall on my way to the Fitness Center for a workout or stepping into a dance studio, I’m elated to see how students, faculty, and staff are embracing the endless opportunities made possible by the generosity of the Francine A. LeFrak Foundation.”
Philanthropist Francine A. LeFrak not only provided critical support for the creation of the center but also crafted the unique, 360-degree approach to wellness as three pillars of fitness: physical, mental, and financial.
“While most college wellness facilities focus on physical and mental well-being, true well-being requires addressing all three areas, including financial health,” says LeFrak. “Financial stress is a major contributor to both physical and mental strain, making it essential to tackle finances head-on to achieve overall wellness. This approach sets the center apart and establishes it as a model for other well-being centers across the country.”
A Look Inside
The design of the Francine LeFrak Center reflects its unique 360-degree approach to well-being that includes cutting-edge modalities and strengthens a sense of connectivity. When community members enter Barnard’s gates and ascend the stairs of Barnard Hall, doors open to the Wellness Commons, an expansive space designed to encourage casual interactions and relaxation. A few steps away, the Mental Health Suite invites all those seeking engagement around mental well-being topics to participate in staff and peer educator-led sessions that address such areas as relationships and sexual health education. Nearby, the Financial Wellness Suite offers a variety of programming to those interested in building their understanding of financial matters, meeting them where they are on their journey to financial literacy. And down the hall, the light-filled Fitness Center is outfitted with the newest equipment and machines to support the community’s physical well-being.
Already, the center has become a nexus for campus life and activity, harnessing the centrality of Barnard Hall’s location so that the community can utilize and enjoy the space in myriad ways, from having an inviting place to meet and take classes to getting a workout or attending a financial fluency seminar.
“The space came together beautifully, reflecting the cohesiveness that the community hoped for in different aspects of the center,” says Marina Catallozzi, Barnard’s vice president of health & wellness and chief health officer. “Whether passing through to see a performance at the Ethel S. LeFrak ’41 and Samuel J. LeFrak Theatre or to seek out sexual or mental health support from peers, it is a hub for everyone.”
Catallozzi explains that she and the other project leads conducted a “listening tour” before the plan was finalized, and the opinions they gathered have been foundational to the center’s design. Catallozzi says the College wanted to find out what the Barnard community truly wanted, needed, and wished for from its new wellness center. The layout of the center was informed by that wish list, as was the intentional design that brings the entire community — all ages, all roles, encompassing students, staff, faculty, and alumnae — together.
“There’s a lot of data that shows intergenerational interactions are really helpful for people in terms of longevity,” says Catallozzi. During the listening tour, the community also expressed a need for boundaries. So, while students, staff, and faculty can interact in lounge areas and while working out, the center also provides private meditation spaces, including low-stimulus and biofeedback rooms and separate locker rooms and showers for faculty and staff.
Cheryl Milstein ’82, P’14, chair of Barnard’s Board of Trustees, is also thrilled by the new center’s beauty and purpose. “The Francine LeFrak Center is emblematic of how Barnard continues to create spaces that are designed to foster possibilities and pathways for all members of the community,” she notes. “It is fitting that this hub for physical, mental, and financial well-being is located in the heart of campus, since taking care of ourselves and each other is central to what it means to be part of the College.”
In keeping with the center’s mission, this spring, after the community has had a chance to become acquainted with all the center has to offer, the College will conduct a campus-wide needs assessment to tailor the programming and space further to fulfill the center’s ambitious mission.
Physical Well-Being
The center’s gym is specifically designed to invite, engage, and inspire. Here, students, faculty, and staff access cardio machines, multiple functional fitness areas, strength equipment, racks and free weights, selectorized strength machines, and professional guidance available to support all who visit.
Melanie Rodriguez, associate faculty member of the Physical Education Department and LeFrak Fitness Center manager, who also oversaw Barnard’s gym when it was a much smaller facility located in the basement of Barnard Hall, says the center’s easily accessible location will better serve students, faculty, and staff.
“It’s amazing,” says Rodriguez. “The center has a lot more meeting spaces for people to gather. I just see people in conversation more with one another. I see students hanging out in these spaces and studying together. So it’s a great place to get a workout, and it’s also an organic gathering space, which is nice.”
Mental Well-Being
The center provides dedicated space for mental health and well-being programs, including the Wellness Spot, Barnard’s peer wellness program, which just celebrated its 30th anniversary; Being Barnard, the College’s sexual violence education, prevention, and outreach program; and the Denise LeFrak Alcohol and Substance Awareness Program.
According to April Autry, executive director of the Francine LeFrak Center, the emphasis on mental well-being is intrinsically aligned with the intergrational focus of any wellness program: “The center’s mental well-being pillar is really meant to be a place for resources and educational programs.”
The center also provides cutting-edge tools to nurture mental and emotional health. Among the features offered in the Mental Well-Being Suite is the REJen system, a groundbreaking new technology designed to improve physical and mental health. Thanks to a generous gift from philanthropist and wellness innovator Jennifer Carolyn King, students, staff, and faculty can access this first-of-its-kind technology to help reset, regenerate, and reduce stress and inflammation.
The REJen system includes three healing modalities: Apple Vision Pro goggles, a sensory device called Sensate that uses vibrations and sound to relieve anxiety, and the Shiftwave Chair, a zero-gravity recliner that stimulates the nervous system with mechanically generated pulsed pressure waves to enhance circulation and promote muscle recovery, resulting in immediate and long-term health benefits, including reducing stress and promoting healing.
The REJen offers immediate and long-term health benefits, including resetting the stress response, reducing inflammation, and helping to restore healthy sleeping patterns. Some have likened a session in the chair to “a year’s worth of meditation in 10 minutes.”
“Students today face incredible stress, and thanks to Jennifer King and Tim Fredel’s Rugged Elegance Foundation, Barnard will be the first college campus to experience this groundbreaking wellness technology that treats physical and mental health,” says LeFrak.
Financial Well-Being
Learning how to manage money is an essential pillar of a healthy life. Yet studies show a gap in this critical area of understanding. According to recent research, while personal finance is becoming a required course in many U.S. high schools, more than 40% of college students still need to be equipped with adequate financial literacy knowledge and skills. The financial suite is the center’s hub for programming to fill in that gap for students, staff, and faculty. It will present programming to address key dimensions of financial fluency and offer tools to build success. Along with speakers and subject-specific events, the center will offer an educational framework to gain a practical understanding of money, investing, and budgeting through the Francine A. LeFrak Foundation Financial Leadership and Fluency Certificate.
One of the seven LeFrak student ambassadors, Shannon Geraghty ’25 helps to plan the content for educational workshops and provide logistical support for wellness events. She is primarily focused on the center’s financial fluency pillar. “I became really interested in financial literacy while in high school. I grew up impoverished, so I went to a school where many of the students were in a similar situation. I decided I didn’t want to continue that cycle, and I wanted a better life for myself, so I decided to educate myself financially,” says Geraghty. “When I came to Barnard, I realized that many first-generation, low-income students like me also lacked financial literacy. And I took it upon myself to begin teaching them.” At the Francine LeFrak Center, Geraghty is bringing her financial advising practice into the financial suite, helping to shape the programming designed to bring the power that comes with knowing how to manage personal finances.
The programming and passion for developing vital skills are designed to be potent contributors to overall well-being. “We don’t just want to empower women; we want to give women power, and when women take responsibility for their finances, they have power,” says LeFrak. “This knowledge transformed my life, and it’s what I wish for all Barnard students.”
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