ASHLAND — Ashland University was recognized at the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) annual meeting in Salt Lake City for its commitment to creating a culture of health and well-being.
AU earned a gold-level designation from the Exercise is Medicine On Campus (EIM-OC) program. Ashland was one of 94 universities and colleges to achieve gold status this year.
Ashland’s EIM team, with the support of President Jon Parrish Peede, has been providing fitness assessments for both the campus and Ashland community. The team has created campus education flyers and a social media account for promotion of physical activity and wellness.
It has also collaborated with other programs and clubs on campus for wellness initiatives and events and developing a lecture series on strength training, faith and fitness, mental health and more.
These activities were developed by members of AU’s exercise science club, which consists of student volunteers from the exercise science program. Their efforts to encourage students, faculty and staff to work toward improving the health and well-being of the campus community through various measures led directly to this notable honor.
“We are thrilled to recognize these campuses’ commitment to make movement a part of daily campus culture and give students the tools to cultivate physical activity habits that will benefit them throughout their lives,” said Katie Feltman, CEO of ACSM.
“These campus programs are nurturing future leaders who will advance a key tenet of Exercise is Medicine: making physical activity assessment and promotion a standard in health care.”
Levi Jones ’22, clinical assistant professor of exercise science and faculty advisor of the program, was at the ACSM annual meeting on May 27 to accept the honor on behalf of the university.
“I am so proud of our students for driving this initiative,” Jones said. “They were diligent and provided a variety of informational and entertaining events to our campus community throughout the past year, and this is a very deserving recognition for Ashland University.”
EIM-OC launched its recognition program in 2014 to honor campuses for their efforts to create a culture of wellness. Schools earn gold, silver or bronze status based on their activities.
Gold level campuses have created a referral system where campus health care providers assess student physical activity and refer students as necessary to a certified fitness professional as part of medical treatment. Renewed schools are actively developing and enhancing their programs, positioning themselves for advancement.
Jones, who also presented his recently published research, “Predicting Relative Strength from Body Composition in College-Aged Adults,” at the conference, fully expects that Ashland’s EIM team will continue to put forth new concepts and enhance other programming for the AU campus in 2026-27 and beyond.
“This is not a one-year thing,” Jones said. “We plan to continue to educate the campus community that exercise and movement are vital first-line treatments to both preventing and treating nearly every single chronic disease and condition.
“The results are just astounding of how beneficial exercise can be.”
