The Well for Health Promotion at Tulane rolled out the MENtality Project Lunch & Learn to help engage, educate and empower students to create an open environment to discuss healthy masculinity. Sessions run every Tuesday throughout the fall semester in room LBC 201, and lunch is provided for all registered students.

According to Alicia Czachowski, director of public health initiatives and assessment, the MENtality project is focused on prevention methods as a sexual violence initiative rather than response. The idea for the program came during the planning for All In: Tulane University’s commitment to stop all sexual violence program in response to the Climate Survey last year.

“We really wanted to develop something similar here to help create an environment where people can talk about masculinity and how it can be used in a positive way to help prevent sexual violence from occurring.” Czachowski said. 

Every Tuesday session features a different activity focused on healthy masculinity, and the program is geared towards the participants’ suggestions as the project is in its trial run. 

“The participants created a list of what they would like in future healthy masculinity and violence prevention programming, which will help in strategizing and implementing future opportunities,” Czachowski said. 

This project is the first step in the creation of a new wave of male-centered programming. The Well has already hired a Mens Engagement Coordinator to help with research and outreach. In coming years, coordinators at The Well hope to narrow down the program to focus on specific aspects of the daily lives of students and address how healthy masculinity looks in these situations. For now, they are hopeful the MENtality project will be successful.

“The outcomes we are hoping to achieve through the MENtality Project are for participants to develop an understanding of healthy masculinity and how it ties into their personal and social lives and to create an open and trusting space for participants to engage in dialogue about healthy masculinity,” Czachowski said.