Hundreds of people attended the Student Wellness Commission’s Healthcoming event, an annual fall health festival, on Wednesday.

The Wilson Plaza festival showcased the commission’s offerings and provided an overview of UCLA’s health and wellness resources. The event included tabling from over 15 UCLA health organizations and entities, interactive stations – such as goat yoga, a petting zoo and a mechanical bull ride – and handouts of physical resources like contraceptive and menstrual products.

Chiara Frank, the Undergraduate Students Association Council’s Student Wellness commissioner, said the event’s focus was to introduce students to the commission and its partners in a fun and engaging environment. She added that SWC’s member organizations, including Sexperts and Active Minds, provided resources to students at the event.

“It is intended to … engage students with the various health services on campus, as well as our committees so that they feel a little bit more comfortable and also more knowledgeable with what is available,” she said. “Having the representatives present and able to talk to hopefully making the centers a little less intimidating to go to.”

Lucia Cleveland, a third-year psychology student and director of advocacy for Active Minds, said the event provided an outlet for students to talk to fellow students about sensitive issues. She added that she thought speaking to fellow students can be more approachable than mental health professionals.

“Active Minds on campus is focused on destigmatizing mental health.” Cleveland said, “I think that just makes it a lot more approachable because you’re hearing it from somebody that’s your own age, and it’s not as intimidating as going to CAPS (UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services).”

Elizabeth Jimenez, a first-year theater student who attended Healthcoming, said the event introduced her to important resources and was how she learned that the UCLA Title IX Office is located in Murphy Hall. She added it was a great way to get to know campus and learn more about what resource offered.

One of the stations featured 30-minute goat yoga sessions.

Michelle Tritten of Hello Critter, who led the yoga instruction, said goat yoga sessions benefit participants physically and mentally, adding that the addition of the goats helps bring laughter and joy, which lifts participants’ moods.

“It’s a great stress reliever for students,” she said. “While you’re inside the goat zone you forget about everything outside of the goat zone. They have a way of just immediately bringing you into the present moment.”

Frank said a big part of the commission’s programming funds go to larger-scale initiatives like Healthcoming. A total of $81,090 is allocated to the SWC Programming fund for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, according to the Student Government Accounting budget report.

“I’m really proud of our staff and our team this year, working with our amazing vendors who came, the amazing services and our committees who put a lot of hard work into their activities.”