About Us

Created in 2008, the Vanderbilt Student Health & Wellness Association (VSHWA) serves as a health and wellness resource for Vanderbilt Law School. VSHWA has presented a number of programs, workshops and seminars, all of which have brought distinguished speakers to Vanderbilt Law School to remark on facets of health and wellness in the legal community.

Social events in 2008-2009 included a kickball game during 1L orientation and a "Diversity Potluck Blackacre" in October, which brought together student organizations of ethnic and religious foci to share cultural staples such as challah and kebabs.

VSHWA's annual Substance Abuse Awareness Week provides the opportunity to reflect on how these issues might impact law students as future lawyers and community members. Panel discussions such as "Grades: Myths & Realities," which was co-sponsored with the VULS Career Services Office, and "Substance Abuse Issues in the Legal Community" which featured psychiatrist Paul Ragan, Vanderbilt Director of Health & Wellness Dr. Mary Yarbrough, Vanderbilt Office of the General Counsel attorney Sheree Wright and a representative from TLAP. For this week and other projects, VSHWA will often work in conjunction with the Vanderbilt Law School Office of Student Affairs and the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP).

VSHWA’s annual Eating Disorders Awareness Week provides the community with essential facts relating to eating disorder and the prevalence of disordered eating in high-stress environments, including law school and beyond. VSHWA partnered with the Nashville-based Eating Disorder Coalition of Tennessee to feature a panel entitled "What is Normal Eating: Unveiling Disordered Eating in a High-Stress Environment." Panelists included local psychologists Reba Sloan and Beth Lamb, and author, psychotherapist and speaker, Thom Rutledge.

VSHWA presented two Hyatt Fund events during its inaugural year. "The Business of Practicing Law: What Generation Y Needs to Know to Succeed in a Law Firm" featured Lauren Rickleen, senior partner at Bowditch & Dewey, LLP, Executive Director of the Bowditch Institute for Women's Success, and author of Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women's Success in the Law. The lecture was co-sponsored by the Women Law Students Association and held September 25, 2008. The second lecture was by Judge Robert Childers on October 16, 2008 and was co-sponsored by the Vanderbilt Law Brewing Guild. Judge Childers spoke of his experience as chair of the American Bar Association's Committee on Lawyers' Assistance Programs and the Model Rule on Conditional Admission, which he helped draft and become adopted in Tennessee.