BY ANTHONY DASILVA, STAFF WRITER
The sensory room is a new addition to the Student Health and Wellness Center at St. Bonaventure University; it is located in room 222 of the Reilly Center, upstairs nearby the Career and Professional Readiness Center. The room has calming lights, a small waterfall, two massive high-tech massage chairs, bean bag chairs, a couch, Keurig, a TV and some sensory stimulation toys.
The process of creating the sensory room started in January 2021 and most of the accessories for the room were purchased by April.
“This idea was brought to me by an RA, because many other universities have them,” said Dr. Del Rey Honeycutt , associate dean for Student and Community Wellbeing at the university. “This Residence Assistant was Landon Allison, who graduated last year.”
The Student Government Association was a huge part in creating the sensory room.
“When the student body is committed to something, they work hard to make it happen,” said Honeycutt.
The two students that had the largest impact on making the room happen were Meghan Hall, a senior journalism major and president of SGA and Cody Shimp, a senior business major and vice president of SGA. With their support, everything that is in the sensory room was bought using SGA funds.
“I created a list from what I’ve seen at other universities and gave it to the student government,” said Del Rey Honeycutt.
Students have already made use of the facility, offering a lot of positive input.
“I really like the massage chair,” said Hailey Hilfiger, a freshman philosophy major. “The waterfall was interesting.”
Colton Kimball, a freshman video production major had much more to say about the sensory room and his experience there.
“It is a nice room to work in or go to after you do your work,” said Kimball. “The room is small and compact, which makes it calming, and the addition of colorful lamps adds a sense of serenity.”
There were also some suggestions given by students about how the room could be improved.
“If the room gets bigger, it will become a greater attraction,” said Kimball.
Patrick Vogel, freshman broadcast journalism major, also mentioned that the room “smells weird.”
According to Honeycutt, the current spot of the sensory room is only temporary.
“The sensory room is for students to relax,” said Honeycutt. “When moved, it can be used to help students in crisis.”
dasilvaf21@bonaventure.edu
