In less than a year, the Francine A. LeFrak Foundation Center for Well-Being at Barnard College has emerged as a groundbreaking hub for holistic health — supporting thousands of students, faculty, and staff with innovative programs in physical fitness, mental health, and financial fluency. This Center has hosted hundreds of Barnard students in financial wellness programming — on everything from taxes, to budgeting and personal finance. It has also expanded its reach beyond campus to high school students from the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, who have completed the Center’s financial certificate program. Since the 4,000-square-foot Barnard Fitness Center opened in November, the space has logged nearly 27,000 visits by 2,139 students and 174 faculty and staff – underscoring the demand for accessible, integrated wellness services in higher education.
The Center’s innovative three-pillar model of physical, mental and financial wellness — developed by Francine LeFrak in 2007 after her work with Rwandan women who survived the 1994 genocide — was praised by Time Magazine as part of its list of 100 most influential philanthropists, emphasizing its global relevance and impact-driven design.
“In this theatre, all voices will be heard and everyone will be welcome,” LeFrak told attendees at the opening. LeFrak’s vision for Barnard to set the standard for health and wellness in higher education has guided the Center’s success in offering community members expansive access to comprehensive programming and tools that elevate financial fluency, mental health, and physical well-being.
With the excitement of the official grand opening bubbling up beyond Barnard’s gates, the College invited New York City stars — Tony Award-winning actor and singer Brian Stokes Mitchell, co-host of Fox 5’s Good Day New York Rosanna Scotto, and performers from Bedlam Theatre — to campus on June 3 to celebrate the official opening of the Francine LeFrak Center for Well-Being and the new Ethel S. LeFrak ’41 and Samuel J. LeFrak Theatre, founded by Francine A. LeFrak, the latter named in honor of her parents.
“The Francine LeFrak Center for Well-Being represents the very best of what Barnard has to offer,” said President Laura Rosenbury. “We teach what cannot be taught in books, or in an art studio or lab, [and] empower students to practice how to be mindful and intentional about their self-care.”
One such student, LeFrak Financial Ambassador Gabriella Sarahi Martinez Rodriguez ’28 — who lived in Bosnia and Herzegovina after leaving Mexico at 16 — shared how the Center “changed the way I live. I had no idea how to navigate life [in America] in a way that would allow me to thrive financially, emotionally, or otherwise, but here I found a space that changed the way I [will leave] Barnard,” said Rodriguez.
“Through [the Francine LeFrak Center], I took my first financial literacy course, where I learned how to open a bank account, start saving, and begin building confidence in navigating systems that often feel unfamiliar and inaccessible to students like me,” continued the economics and cognitive science double major. “That is the wave of change happening here — women learning to walk into rooms that have been historically excluded from, not just with knowledge but with power.”
Packed with music, nostalgia, and tremendous support for the seven-month mark of the Center’s opening at the College, the 240-seat theatre — which has served as a popular venue for campus gatherings, academic lectures, and special events — was the centerpiece of a vibrant night honoring the LeFrak vision: a legacy of arts, well-being, and lifelong community at Barnard.
LeFrak was introduced at the ribbon cutting by longtime family friend Scotto. “Tonight marks an extraordinary milestone,” said Scotto, who emceed the evening’s event — “the grand opening of two transformative spaces that will shape wellness, creativity, and community on this campus for generations to come.” She also introduced performances from J.T. Harding, Stephen Michael Spencer, and Casey Shuler of the acclaimed theatre company Bedlam’s Music City, as well as Mitchell — who sang for alumna Ethel S. LeFrak ’41 on her 90th birthday and spent time with her during her final days at age 93.
The Center, which broke ground in 2023 and functions as a wellness hub, is situated in the heart of campus in Barnard Hall — at which LeFrak’s parents proudly dedicated the campus gymnasium in 1995. “It’s wonderful that 30 years later, I was able to transform their gift into a beautiful theatre,” said LeFrak. “It’s not only the enduring commitment to the arts from my parents but bringing the Barnard community together and hearing all voices — knowing that everyone on campus is welcome. [The Center] is the place they can go to feel like they have a place to come — a home.”
I learned how to open a bank account, start saving, and begin building confidence in navigating systems that often feel unfamiliar and inaccessible to students like me. That is the wave of change happening here — women learning to walk into rooms that have been historically excluded from, not just with knowledge but with power.
Transformation remains the theme of the state-of-the-art facility, as students continue to enjoy yoga classes at the Fitness Center, take certificate courses in financial literacy, or relax in the Shiftwave Chair, a zero-gravity recliner that targets the nervous system for enhanced muscle recovery and stress relief — a gift from Jennifer Carolyn King and Timothy Fredel and the Denise LeFrak Foundation Alcohol and Substance Awareness Program (ASAP).
The Barnard Fitness Center has had 26,910 total visits, with two-thirds of enrolled students using it at least once, including 174 unique faculty and staff and 2,139 unique student visits. The Shiftwave Chair had close to 350 completed sessions. Two hundred students attended programming on everything from taxes to budgeting as part of the Center’s financial fluency program, including more than a dozen teens from a New York City high school.
The Center has hosted distinguished guest speakers, who have offered advice on maintaining mental, physical, and financial well-being across a range of career fields, along with Midnight Breakfast — one of Barnard’s most beloved traditions — where hundreds of students used the Ethel S. LeFrak ’41 and Samuel J. LeFrak Theatre space to eat, gather, craft, relax, recharge, and de-stress before finals. It also holds the Wellness Commons, the Mental Well-Being Suite, and the Athletes Lounge, all of which offer community members places to convene.
“It is humbling to think about the impact that the Francine A. LeFrak Foundation Center for Well-Being will have on the Barnard community as we move into the future,” said A-J Aronstein, vice president of community engagement and lifelong success, who has led the Center’s operational development and strategic planning since its inception. “Questions about what it takes to lead a life well-lived get to the very heart of a liberal arts education.”
President Rosenbury, whose leadership has championed initiatives that uplift women, thanked LeFrak for her visionary alignment with the mission that fuels Barnard. “When we take care of the three pillars — physical, mental, and financial health — we set Barnard’s future women leaders up for success.”
