Healthy Campus Week 2025 begins on September 15

Open and free to all colleges and universities, #HEALTHYCAMPUSWEEK2025 is happening September 15–19 and the week-long initiative continues to feature the Largest Physical Activity Challenge, happening this year on Wednesday, September 17! Nearly 60 campuses signed up to participate this year during the 2025 NIRSA Conference back in April.

The Largest Physical Activity Challenge will be co-hosted again by the Healthier Campus Initiative and Swipe Out Hunger, sponsored by Columbia Sportswear and the United States Tennis Association (USTA) with Columbia Sportswear continuing to serve as the sponsor and providing prizes of hats, backpacks, and fanny packs to the winner!

Congratulations to Penn State University, winner of the 2024 Largest Physical Activity Challenge!

See the schedule and learn how to participate

Physical activity challenges, farmers markets, food bank or food pantry initiatives, mindfulness exercises and eating fruits and veggies in school colors are all great ways to welcome students back to campus in a mindful way during Healthy Campus Week 2025.

Participating schools are encouraged to be flexible with the dates and themes happening on their campus, but suggested dates run this year from September 15 through September 19. Here is a suggested outline for activities:

Monday, September 15 | Farmers markets and sustainability

Share a video about your campus's farmers market or sustainability initiatives. Show what your campus is growing for the community and the agricultural advancements happening at your school, regardless of the size of your farm.

Tuesday, September 16 | Combating food insecurity

Every campus has dedicated resources to fighting hunger—shout out the innovative ways that your campus is combating food insecurity. Swipe Out Hunger, cohost for the day, provides valuable resources for campuses. Be sure to tag @swipehunger in your social posts!

Wednesday, September 17 | Largest Physical Activity Challenge

Host a physical activity challenge and enter your initiative into the Largest Physical Activity Challenge contest for 2025. Check out the official rules for entering and invite your students to participate for their chance to win hats, backpacks, or fanny packs from Columbia Sportswear. Be sure to tag our partners in the photos and videos you share on social media: @healthiercampus AND @columbia1938 #HealthyCampusWeek2025.

Thursday, September 18 | Mindfulness and mental health

Student success hinges on a student's ability to implement healthy practices, coping mechanisms, and self-care in times of need. Host an activity or initiative dedicated to promoting mindfulness or mental health either on your campus or virtually and spread awareness among every student, faculty, and staff member.

Friday, September 22 | Fruits and veggies in colors

Share photos of students and staff members eating fruits and vegetables while wearing school, sorority, or fraternity colors.

Make eating fruits and veggies fun! Promote a variety of healthy produce and your favorite colors through your creativity Remember to mention @healthiercampus in the photos and videos you share on social media and use the hashtag #HEALTHYCAMPUSWEEK2025.

Why your campus should participate

Colleges and universities are doing an exceptional job at supporting overall student wellbeing. However, there is still important work that needs to be done.

• According to the latest National College Health Assessment, 28.1% of students report having eaten less than they felt they should in the last 30 days because there wasn't enough money for food.
• They also report that 35.2% of students report having received psychological or mental health services in the last 12 months.
• Another finding included less than 30% of students reported eating three or more servings of vegetables, less than 20% consumed three or more servings of fruit, and most (70.6%) drank at least one sugar-sweetened beverage per day over 7 days.

Healthy Campus Week gives students, faculty, and staff a fun platform to continue to drive home the message that everyone on their campus is committed to wellbeing and student success; it's a great way to engage students with fun activities while also educating them about wellbeing.

Healthy Campus Week 2025 partners

Healthier Campus Initiative has continued its commitment to college wellbeing with a particular focus on identifying resources necessary to address health disparities. I connected with many attendees at the 2025 NIRSA Conference in Orlando and was able to talk about how the Healthy Campus Week initiative grew out of efforts with Dr. Hatfield, an applied community and behavioral interventionist working with ChildObesity180 at Tufts University, to determine what physical activity resources are needed to support the needs of a diverse student body.

Also, to make inroads in addressing equity, Swipe Out Hunger is partnering with Healthier Campus Initiative to support students facing hardship by focusing on food and housing insecurity by co-hosting #HEALTHYCAMPUSWEEK2025.

We are also excited to welcome our new sponsor USTA to Healthy Campus Week! Look out for the Red Ball tennis pilots that will be activated during that week.