SLIAC Welcomes Dr. Graff-Haight to Speak at Workshop

The St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) is pleased to welcome Dr. Dawn Graff-Haight to speak at the conference's special event in association with its Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) members. The event will take place in November and discuss how best to handle and deal with stress challenges that face student-athletes and collegiate students on campuses. 

In 2013, the NCAA's Sports Science Institute (SSI) convened an interdisciplinary NCAA Mental Health Task Force to focus on the mental health issues affecting student-athletes. In a survey conducted by the NCAA SSI student-athletes from all three NCAA divisions identified mental health as their number one health and safety priority. Stress, anxiety, and depression often result from the pressures college athletes feel and 30-percent of student-athletes have reported feeling overwhelmed. 

The SLIAC SAAC Mental Health event will be a two-day event held on the campus of Webster University on Saturday, November 16th and Sunday, November 17th. The event will consist of two two-hour speaking engagements (7-9 p.m. on Saturday and 9-11 a.m. on Sunday) and is free to students from SLIAC member schools. 

Dr. Graff-Haight will discuss the basics of stress, how stress is harmful, and how it can be helpful, the stresses of athletics and its impact, and the best practices in addressing stress. There will be several group activities and planning sessions for how to address stress issues in the future.

If you are interested in attending the free event please contact your school SAAC advisor or email Brian Lovellette at sid@sliac.org 

Dr. Graff-Haight recently completed her teaching career at Linfield College, where she was a health education professor since 1996. She has written several scholarly articles with a focus on health issues and the development and implementation of health standards. She co-authored Science Explorer, Human Biology and Health and serves on the editorial board of the Oregon Journal for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. In addition, she has served as board president of the Oregon Association for the Advancement of Health Education and was appointed to the Comprehensive School Health Education advisory committee by the Oregon Department of Education. Graff-Haight was named the Oregon College/University Health Educator of the Year in 2009 and 1997. She earned her Ph.D. from Oregon State University and attended the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse where she received her M.S. and B.S. in health education.

For more information on mental health and wellness please visit NCAA Mental Health and Wellness HOME PAGE