The College of New Rochelle $125,000 Grant from the Aetna Foundation to Support Educational Programming Aimed at Addressing Obesity

New Rochelle, NY (July 6, 2005) -- The College of New Rochelle (CNR) announced today that it has received a three-year, $125,000 grant from the Aetna Foundation to help support educational programming associated with addressing obesity.

“We are pleased to receive such a generous grant from the Aetna Foundation,” said Dr. Stephen J. Sweeny, President of the College of New Rochelle. “This grant will enable us to expand key components in our health and wellness curriculum to benefit our students and the communities we serve.”

Sharon C. Dalton, Managing Director of the Aetna Foundation, said, “We are delighted to support CNR’s Weight and Wellness module and applaud the College’s efforts to address the health risks associated with obesity.”

CNR announced plans last month to build a $25 million, 60,000-square-foot holistic Wellness Center. The Center, a critical academic facility, will be unique in the greater New York metropolitan area, because it will bring together and integrate multiple disciplines to help students understand and practice principles of healthy living and wellness throughout their lives.

The Wellness Center will consist of several technologically equipped learning spaces for conferences, seminars and classroom instruction. It will allow faculty and students to develop health and wellness education modules that address the specific curricular needs of the CNR communities as well as further the larger national goals of preventing major chronic illnesses, injuries, and infectious diseases. Healthy lifestyle habits will be taught to students at all CNR campuses, and they will be encouraged to become models of wellness.

In concert with and in preparation for use of the Wellness Center, the College established the Wellness Center Committee. Composed of CNR executive administrators and faculty, the Committee is responsible for developing a broad range of holistically integrated health and wellness education programs. The first educational module to be created was the Weight and Wellness module, which was successfully piloted and tested among a group of student athletes during the 2004-2005 school year. The need to offer such programs was determined following the completion of a comprehensive Community Health Assessment conducted by CNR senior nursing students enrolled in a community health course.

Year one of the Aetna Foundation grant will enable the College to refine and retest the module through the CNR School of New Resources at its Brooklyn Campus in Bedford Stuyvesant.  A volunteer group of adult students will enroll in the program.

Year two of the Aetna Foundation grant will enable the educators to adapt the Weight and Wellness Module to the specific needs of each CNR campus.

During year three, funds will be spent on the use of distance learning technology and the outfitting of smart classrooms in the new Wellness Center building (scheduled for completion in spring 2007), as well as for technical consulting and faculty development and training.  This will enable the College to deliver the module electronically to external constituencies.

The Aetna Foundation grant is among the first gifts from corporate foundations in support of the Wellness Center.  Over the past two decades, Aetna has supported CNR through student scholarships, and participation in the College’s Centennial Gala in 2004 and at annual golf and tennis outings.

The Aetna Foundation is the independent philanthropic arm of the Hartford, Connecticut-based health insurance company, Aetna.  Founded in 1972, the Foundation seeks to help build healthy communities by funding initiatives that improve the quality of life where our employees and customers work and live. Since 1980, the Foundation has contributed more than $270 million in grants, scholarships, and social investments. The Foundation’s giving is focused on addressing racial and ethnic disparities in health care.  Additional information about the Aetna Foundation is available at www.aetna.com/foundation.

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The first Catholic college for women in New York State, The College of New Rochelle was founded in 1904 by the Ursuline Order. Today, it comprises the all-women School of Arts & Sciences, and three schools which admit women and men: the School of New Resources (for adult learners), the School of Nursing and the Graduate School.  The main campus of the College is located in lower Westchester County, 16 miles north of New York City.  The College maintains six other campus locations in New York City. Visit the College’s website at www.cnr.edu