Baylor Assistant Director of Wellness Honored with Collegiate Recovery Staff of the Year Award

Lilly Ettinger, who directs Baylor’s Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center, recognized nationally for her outstanding commitment to recovery services and support

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by Cerenity Austin, student newswriter, Baylor University Media and Public Relations

WACO, Texas (May 5, 2020) – Lilly Ettinger, assistant director of wellness at Baylor University and director of the University’s Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center (BARC), has been honored by the Association of Recovery in Higher Education (ARHE) with its 2020 Collegiate Recovery Staff of the Year Award.

The ARHE represents collegiate recovery programs by providing support for recovery staff and students across the nation through research, recovery programs and community. Each year, the organization selects one collegiate recovery professional to receive the Collegiate Recovery Staff of the Year Award, which honors outstanding commitment to recovery services and support.

“I am so very proud of Lilly for being awarded the ARHE Collegiate Recovery Staff of the Year Award. This awesome recognition represents the high quality of support that Baylor’s department of wellness provides for our students through our recovery services,” said Dominque Hill, director of wellness at Baylor. “It is my hope that this acknowledgement garners even more support for the department’s programs and services.”

Ettinger began her Baylor journey as an undergraduate transfer student studying religion in 2006. Five years later, she became involved in recovery support as she began her graduate studies in ministry leadership from Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary.

“One of the things that I’m not afraid of sharing is that I’m also a person in long-term recovery. Through the grace of God, I get to live a life of freedom for which I am very grateful,” Ettinger said. “When I transferred to Baylor as an undergraduate student, that was a very lonely and difficult time for me because it was hard to identify other students in recovery. Saying that, not having recovery support was one of the most common reason people I knew didn’t finish college.”

Ettinger now provides recovery support for Baylor students through the BARC and promotes wellness throughout the Baylor community.

“Students in healthy recovery know what it means to practice wellness,” Ettinger said. “When I talk to students about different wellness topics beyond recovery – my favorites are sleep hygiene and contemplative prayer/mindfulness – students in recovery are already the ideal I want to bring to the rest of campus.”

One resource for recovery Ettinger is most passionate about is encouraging and leveraging student leadership. Ettinger will expand on this topic with some of their students at the ARHE conference this summer, which will be presented virtually.

“The most popular definition of recovery says, ‘Recovery is a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live self-directed lives and strive to reach their full potential.’ I’ve said this before, but recovery is a secret superpower,” Ettinger said. “Wellness isn’t about becoming the fittest or the healthiest or always calm, it’s about living with balance in your life and your community.”

Addiction recovery resources at Baylor

In fall 2017, Baylor opened the Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center and immediately began providing both support services for students who are in the initial stages of identifying substance and behavioral addictions and continued support for students who have completed rehabilitation programs.

As part of the ARHE national community, the BARC is designed to support students in recovery through all-encompassing levels of support academically, socially, emotionally, spiritually and physically. Through well-rounded programs and support and by encouraging academic excellence, the BARC and its staff strive to increase positive recovery outcomes for each student.

The BARC – located in the East Village Residential Community on the Baylor campus – was made possible by a $2.5 million gift in January 2017 from Bob and Laura Beauchamp of Houston. In 2018, ARHE honored the Beauchamps as Recovery Philanthropists of the Year for their outstanding work and service in the recovery field.

For more information about BARC, visit www.baylor.edu/BARC. Staff also can be reached at 254-710-7092 or by email at BARC@baylor.edu.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 18,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.