The Student Health Activities Club, (SHAC), is a club that partners with the Student Health Center in order to help promote healthy habits for Sonoma State University’s students 

Theodore Bussell, SHAC president, explains, “Originally, we started as an advisory committee to the Student Health Center, but our club has grown to do a lot more,” he said. “We promote wellness activities for students, and we also provide opportunities to learn about different health-related career paths by inviting guest speakers to share their experiences at our meetings.” 

Another focus of SHAC, in addition to  promoting health related events for students is, “To inform SSU students about Health Center services and provide outreach on campus health issues,” according to their bylaws. 

The club is always advertising health events on campus for students to participate in. One of the more popular events that SHAC puts on is the Puppy Play Days that happen periodically throughout the year. “During my time at Sonoma State I find that our most notable events (pre covid of course) would be our Puppy play days, which is also my personal favorite,” said Events Coordinator Simran Jorgensen. She went on to say,  “We held these events once a month and allowed students to take a mental break and relax during a stressful day of classes.”

 The club also puts on clinics for free HIV testing a couple times throughout the year, most notably on National Aids awareness day. These are some of the more popular events that the club puts on, although since COVID-19, the club has had to find new ways to reach the student body. 

Since the start of the pandemic, SHAC has been focused on making sure they stay engaged with SSU students. In order to do so, the club has turned their attention to hosting online lectures with special guest speakers to talk to students about their experiences after college, as well as giving them information about their careers.

 As far as what they will do this semester, Bussell said, “We plan to continue having guest speakers this semester, as well as improving the Student Health Center website so students have an easier time accessing health services.”

 The club has also become more engaged on their instagram page, @shac_ssu, to ensure that the Seawolf Community can stay up to date on what the club is doing. Bussell aslo said the club has set up an online “question/suggestion box” where students can anonymously contact employees from the health center to ask health related questions. 

Although the club is designed to inform students about health related topics, being a part of SHAC provides many extra benefits to students. One of the best parts about being in the club is, “[seeing] what the possibilities were for future jobs, and…the networking opportunity inherent in joining the club,” Bussell said, “My biggest takeaway is that the club has the power to improve access to health service for our peers.” SHAC allows for students to help bring awareness to various health needs, 

SHAC meets every other Thursday via zoom from 1-2 p.m. For more information about the club, head over to health.sonoma.edu and click on the SHAC tab on the left hand side.