Dominique Alford-Raymond helped lead Stetson’s student meditation rooms for students on campus. Cameron Healy
At the end of April, students at Stetson University College of Law introduced two student meditation rooms to their campus. The idea shines light on the need for more mental health resources for law students.
“The purpose of the meditation room is the first step of many,” said part-time student Dominique Alford-Raymond.
Alford-Raymond is chair of the Student Bar Association’s Student Health and Wellness committee. She played a large role in the addition of student meditation rooms on the Gulfport campus.
Since her first semester in 2021, she advocates for more access to mental health resources. Alford-Raymond noticed older law generations believed the abuse of alcohol and drugs was just part of the lawyer experience.
“Lawyers have been taught to bury everything,” Alford-Raymond said. “Law school has been built to break people.”
She was not letting that mindset impact her and her classmates’ law school experiences. Alford-Raymond jumpstarted the meditation rooms after a meeting with Associate Dean for Assessment and Professional Engagement, Anne Mullins.
“I just happened to mention offhand that I feel like we’d all be a little better off if we took some time to meditate every day,” said Mullins. “She almost fell out of her chair. She’s like, ‘I’ve been saying that for the longest time. I’m a true believer.'”
Stetson’s student meditation rooms provide mood lights and white noise machines to mellow out the space. Cameron Healy
Stetson’s Student Meditation Rooms
Currently, the college has one mediation room located in the Dolly and Homer Hand Law Library and the Office of Student Affairs.
The library meditation room is available 24 hours and intended for one-two people to use at a time. The larger meditation room in student affairs fits groups of five during office hours.
Students walk into a space designed by licensed mental health counselor Angie Speller. They see a low, cushioned chair in one corner with floor pillows and yoga mats of various sizes beside it. Students turn on the white noise machines including a multi-speed fan with a dimmed lamp in another corner.
This the small meditation room in Stetson’s library. Cameron Healy
“She took her time to explain to us why certain things needed to be in certain places and certain mood lighting, and all the way down to the accessibility,” said Alford-Raymond.
Alford-Raymond wanted to recognize Mullins, Speller, ADA Coordinator Kathryn Pelham, and Student Success manager Julia Baltas for their help. Baltas told The Gabber Newspaper she really wanted to stress that this was a student-led project that finally came to life.
“There was nothing there for us,” Alford-Raymond said. “Now this is probably the only place on campus where you don’t feel like you are competing with everyone, you don’t feel like you are suffering. For a moment, you can get away from all that, shut a door and just let it out.”
