The Brook Center for Empowerment and Wellbeing : University of Dayton, Ohio

The Brook Center utilizes proactive, evidence-based strategies, primary prevention programming, and best practices to assist students in creating healthy relationships with themselves and others to cultivate an ethic of wellbeing. We create an environment where students can focus on their academic, personal, spiritual, and social growth in a community that encourages individual drive toward growth. Through open dialogue and critical analysis, we empower students to explore their own identities, socialization, and health behaviors to develop agency and authenticity. The Center seeks the holistic development of all students in our Marianist community which values the dignity of each person, so that they may succeed, thrive, and contribute to their communities through positive social change.

“I am like a brook that makes no effort to overcome obstacles in its way. All the obstacles can do is hold me up for a while, as a brook is held up; but during that time it grows broader and deeper and after a while it overflows the obstruction and flows along again. This is how I am going to work.”

~Fr. William Joseph Chaminade

The Brook Center encompasses the following programs:

Sexual Violence Prevention Education & Green Dot

Discussing sexual violence, learning how to prevent it, healing from an assault, and supporting loved ones as they heal are all very difficult. But you do not have to do it alone. The Brook has a variety of educational tools to help you start these conversations.

Health Education & Wellbeing

Developing the whole person through engagement with the community is central to the Catholic, Marianist philosophy. Health Education and Wellbeing seeks to cultivate a community in which all members of the community take an active role in fostering an ethic of wellbeing, where all members of the community can succeed, thrive and matter. To build a culture of wellbeing we must engage in a comprehensive approach that builds individual capacity and self-efficacy, fosters meaningful relationships, as well as prioritizes environments and policies which make healthy choice the easy choice.

LGBTQ+ Student Services

The LGBTQ+ Student Services program supports students of all gender and sexual identities, including Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans*, Queer, or Questioning. Guided by our Catholic and Marianist values, we cultivate a campus environment where the dignity of each person is respected and valued, and each person is a full member of the community. We support LGBTQ+ students by connecting students, staff, and faculty with resources and services, providing education and training available to all members of the UD community, and developing students who are committed to leading positive social change.

Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention

Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention initiatives at the University of Dayton strive to enrich the community of care that is an intrinsic piece of our institutional identity. To be successful as an institution, all within the UD community must be involved and take an active role to model an ethos of wellness that destigmatizes mental health issues and educates around mind, body, and spirit issues. By providing training, education and resources, we are committed to building each individuals' capacity to be an active member of our community of care. The knowledge and skills students learn during their time at UD allow them to successfully navigate the complexities of life in order to thrive, graduate and go on to live productive lives.

The Brook: A Center for Empowerment and Wellbeing

The Brook Center