As an alumna who also worked in the Wellness Center, I found the environment to be unsupportive and, at times, deeply unprofessional. Management often dismissed my concerns and left me feeling minimized--for example, when I asked to pause during a difficult discussion, I was told I was 'an adult.' When I raised issues, I felt treated as the problem rather than supported. At times, I felt gaslighted by management, as my concerns were downplayed instead of taken seriously. I was even labeled 'antagonizing' for bringing up a serious concern, which in my view was unfair and stigmatizing.
The workplace culture often came across to me as hostile and cliquish. There were frequent passive-aggressive remarks, rude comments, and unnecessary teasing--such as staff commenting on my purses or calling me by brand names for no reason. Staff in the Wellness Center often pushed me to share personal details about my life, and when I said no, I felt they became rude. To me, this seemed less about teamwork and more about prying into people's business while disregarding healthy work boundaries. When I confronted staff about comments that felt uncalled for, I was told it was just their personality, and in my experience, they acted like victims while excusing behavior that, to me, felt inappropriate and unprofessional. On one occasion, I even felt unsafe when a woman put her hands in my face.
In the Women's Center, I also had a negative experience with one staff member who, from my perspective, went out of her way to interfere, spoke on my behalf without my consent, and made comments that felt unkind. My manager explained teasing as people's 'dark humor' or personality, but to me this only normalized a hostile and unprofessional environment.
Later, I was required to attend a conference in a city I had never been to, as a younger woman traveling with colleagues who already had issues with me. While walking to the conference, a homeless man threatened me, and I was only safe because of the buddy system, which I specifically requested. When I raised this safety concern, management brushed it off as 'anxiety,' telling me I had too much anxiety and that no one else was concerned. In my view, this response was dismissive and extremely inappropriate, especially for a workplace meant to promote wellness.
During the trip, two staff members rolled their eyes at me repeatedly and unfairly accused me of not even attending the conference, while management stood by and excused what I felt was unprofessional and aggressive behavior. Management also claimed that other staff 'never saw anything,' even though those individuals were not present for certain conversations or had already left, which in my view showed a lack of awareness of the tension that existed. I felt completely unsupported. Even random bystanders noticed the behavior and encouraged me to leave, which only reinforced how unsafe and singled out I felt.
When I returned from the trip, management told me I was the problem and the one they needed to 'deal with.' When I said I wanted to quit, I was told, 'you don't want to work it out'--which felt like gaslighting, because I did not believe I was the problem in the first place. Before the trip, I had even warned management about staff issues, but I was told it would be 'great team bonding.' During the trip, I was also told that I 'didn't want to get along,' which felt extremely unfair given that I had already emailed management about my concerns. To me, the way these situations were handled was unacceptable.
I had originally planned to quit quietly, but management escalated the situation, which only made the environment more hostile. At that point, I reported my concerns to HR and quit the same day. HR had previously told me they would follow up, but after I left, I never saw any action taken, and it seemed to me that important policies were not upheld.
In my opinion, the Wellness Center and the Women's Center could greatly improve in professionalism, accountability, and compassion. I hope meaningful changes are made so future students and employees experience a more respectful and supportive workplace." read more
