Wellness Days

Reflect Relax Reconnect Reenergize

Wellness Days are built into the academic calendar as days to reflect, relax, reconnect, and reenergize as individuals and as a campus community. These are days for our community to focus on supporting and caring for ourselves as well as each other.

There are no classes, no assignment due dates, no non-critical lab work, and no meetings held on these days. Wellness Days feature a variety of ways to de-stress, relax, and connect with yourself and those around you throughout the day.

Update as of 7:30am on 9/24:

Due to forecasted weather, the outdoor Wellness Day events will be modified as detailed below:

Week of Hope 5K starting at 8am will run as planned
Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream 11am-12pm will now be located in GH227
Homecoming Rope Pull will be rescheduled to a different date
Kickball Tournament 1pm-3pm will run as planned
Wellness Day Pickleball Tournament will now be 3pm-7pm in Harrington
S'mores on the Grill 2-4pm will run as planned
Wellness Day Field Day 11am-4pm (lawn games, caricatures, balloon artist, tie-dye, field day snacks, inflatable obstacle course, marshmallow tower challenge, build-a-monster, relay races, musical chairs, and the water balloon toss - now a plastic egg toss) will run at the same times as scheduled but now in the Rec Center
Homecoming Pep Rally 5-9pm will now be located in the Rec Center

Wellness Day Campus Clash!

Do it for fun or do it for points (or both)! Participate in select events in the Rec Center and get points towards your team and see which team wins Campus Clash! All activities can be done for fun, and there’s an option for you to also get points for your team, if you wish. The individuals with the 2 highest point totals in each team will get a prize. The team with the most total points gets the ultimate bragging rights!

Teams: 1^st years, Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors, Graduate Students, Employees

Campus Clash Activities:

Relay Races (11am-2:30pm)

Your first attempt counts for points.
1 point per team for participating and 5pts/4pts/3pts extra for the top 3 fastest times, respectively.

Marshmallow Tower Challenge (11:30am-12:30pm)

1-2 people per team and 1 tower per team.
1 point for participating and 5pts/4pts/3pts extra for the top 3 tallest towers, respectively.

Inflatable Obstacle Course (12-4pm)

Your first attempt counts for points.
1 point for participating and 5pts/4pts/3pts extra for the top 3 fastest times, respectively.

Musical Chairs (1-2pm)

1 point for participating and 5pts/4pts/3pts extra for the 1^st/2^nd/3^rd place finishers, respectively.

Build-a-Monster (1-2:30pm)

1 monster submission per person.
1 point for participating and 5pts/4pts/3pts for monsters with the top 3 most votes, respectively.

Water Balloon Toss (2-3:30pm)

Your first attempt counts for points.
1 point per pair for participating, 2 points for getting past 15 feet, and 5pts/4pts/3pts for the top 3 furthest distances, respectively.

Wellness Days - Academic Year 2026/2027

Friday, September 25, 2026 - Feel-Good Field Day
Tuesday, November 3, 2026 - World of Wellness
Friday, February 12, 2027 - Treasure Your Wellness
Monday, March 29, 2027 - Rule Thy Kingdom

Please note: The B-term Wellness Day falls on Election Day and, for some, political elections can evoke strong emotions, create tension, and be a source of stress and anxiety. As such, to align with the mission of Wellness Days, we have decided to keep the B-term Wellness Day apolitical and will not be approving any political or election-related events.

Sponsor or Co-Sponsor an Event or Activity

The CWB is responsible for coordinating the programming for the Wellness Days with student groups and departments. If you are interested in sponsoring or co-sponsoring an activity or event, please fill out the Wellness Day Event Request Form.

All submissions must be completed 2 weeks in advanced to be added to any and all CWB promotional material. All submissions should be completed 1 week prior for the event to be approved.

Frequently Asked Questions

Wellness Days are built into the academic calendar and occur once per term – 4 total Wellness Days per academic year. For the 2026-2027 academic year the Wellness Days are September 25th (A-term), November 3rd (B-term), February 12th (C-term), and March 29th (D-term).

We understand that college and life are stressful and can be draining. It can be hard to give ourselves a break and not feel like we are falling behind or should be doing something “more productive” instead of relaxing. Wellness Days help everyone in the WPI community take that break to focus on taking care of ourselves and connecting with each other. As the saying goes, “you can’t pour from an empty cup” – Wellness Days help you refill your cup.

Do whatever wellness looks like for you! There are a bunch of activities and events happening all over campus for you to partake in. If you’d rather not be on campus, we offer some virtual and asynchronous events too. You can also choose to avoid anything WPI and hang out in your room or go out with friends.

Events can vary from Wellness Day to Wellness Day, but some of the staples include dog therapy, free food, crafting, yoga, meditation, Reiki, and sound bathing. Other events might include movie nights, dance classes, chair massages, food trucks, games, and more.

Politely remind your professor that it is a Wellness Day and there shouldn’t be any classes, meetings, non-critical lab work, or assignment due dates. If that doesn't work, email Arne Gericke (agericke@wpi.edu) for undergraduate classes and Doug Petkie (dtpetkie@wpi.edu) for graduate classes.

All departments, clubs, and on campus organizations interested in hosting an event on Wellness Day should complete our Wellness Day Request Form, this includes departments or clubs that are hosting events in their own spaces. If you have external guests coming to campus, the form is still required to be completed. No exceptions.

All groups looking to book space on campus on a Wellness Day must submit the Wellness Day Request Form and receive CWB approval, including groups looking to use a space for non-Wellness Day activities (there is an option in the form to select if your activity is not part of Wellness Day). Please note, the CWB reserves the right to not approve any request that contradicts with the intent of Wellness Day (e.g., meetings) as determined by CWB staff or is received less than 1 week prior to the Wellness Day.

Any event seen to be taking place on campus on a Wellness Day without the prior approval of the CWB and Events Offices will be asked to immediately relocate to somewhere off campus or to reschedule to another day.

The form will ask for the following information:

Contact Person’s name, email, and phone number
Department/Organization(s) hosting the event
Workday Cost Center or other applicable code(s) for any incurred costs
Event Information including
- Event name
- Start and end times (and flexibility of those times)
- A brief description of the event
- Event location – if you’re not sure of what location to use, you can describe what you want, and we will find a location for you
- Any other relevant info like setup needs, tables/chairs, etc.
- Will you have food/beverage at the event?
- Do you have any Audio/Visual needs with your event?

You will receive at least three (3) emails throughout the approval process once the form has been submitted.

Email from the Center for Well-Being confirming the form has been received, your event has been approved or not by the CWB and, if approved, has been submitted to the Events Department o rother relevant entity for location approval. This email DOES NOT guarantee your event is confirmed!
Email from the Center for Well-Being confirming your event/program. This email will include your event name, location, time, and any other important information you need to know.
1. If anything about your event was changed from what you requested, you will be notified within this email
2. Do not begin promoting your event until AFTER you receive this email
Email from the Center for Well-Being confirming participation in Wellness Day. This email will be sent a day or two prior to the Wellness Day and will be sent to all clubs, departments, and organizations participating in Wellness Day.

No. Your department, club, or organization will be solely responsible for all costs associated with your event. This includes, but is not limited to, supplies, table/chair rentals, catering, technology equipment of any kind, services provided to you from an external person(s), and any costs charged to you by a WPI department.

If you are co-sponsoring an event with the CWB, shared responsibilities on cost(s) will be discussed privately between the CWB team and your group.

If you wish to have your event info included on the CWB’s printed promotional material (printed flyers, sandwich board signs, handouts, etc.) you must submit your event at least 2 weeks prior to the corresponding Wellness Day.

All approved Wellness Day events, including those submitted after the 2-week mark, will be added to the CWB website, MyWPI, and the WPI calendar event. PLEASE DO NOT create your own Drupal event for your Wellness Day event as this will create duplicates, and your event will then not be listed under the Wellness Day parent event.

If you would like any advertising for your event beyond what is listed above, you will need to create the promotional material yourself. All promotional material must follow WPI Marketing Guidelines and should not be disseminated until you have received confirmation of your event from the CWB (the second email).

Any promotional material that explicitly says “Wellness Day” should only be associated with events and programs that have been approved by the Center for Well-Being. All events submitted and approved to be held on Wellness Day should advertise the event as a Wellness Day program.

If you create Instagram posts for your Wellness Day event, you can tag the Center for Well-Being (@wpi_cwb) and we will share your post on our story.

If you want your promotional materials advertised in the CWB please send a copy of the flyer and/or screen images to cwb@wpi.edu.