Mike Veny: Virtual Program

Monday, September 20, 2021 @ 12:30pm

Grunin Center
1 College Drive, Toms River, NJ, 08754

Virtual Tickets are Free, Pre-Registration Required

Mike Veny joins us for a virtual speaking engagement titled Transforming Stigma® in College.

About Mike Veny

Mike Veny loves working with leaders who are tired of bringing the same old textbook presentations on mental health or diversity and inclusion to their events. If you are looking for a compelling speaker who will connect with, entertain, and engage your audience—all while educating and uniting them around improving wellness—you’ve come to the right place.

Mike’s presentations move past simply educating an audience to providing them with actionable steps they can take to change their lives and work environments. His reputation as a dynamic speaker provides confidence and peace of mind for meeting planners everywhere.

Mike’s path to becoming a speaker became evident at an early age. He convinced the staff at psychiatric hospitals to discharge him three times during his childhood. In addition to being hospitalized as a child, he was expelled from three schools, attempted suicide, and was medicated in an effort to reduce his emotional instability and behavioral outbursts.

By the fifth grade, Mike was put in a special education class. Aside from getting more individualized attention from the teacher, he learned that pencil erasers make great sounds when tapped on a desk. He had no idea that drumming would become his career or his path to recovery.

As an adult, Mike spent many years facilitating drum workshops for children with special needs, teaching them to channel their energy by banging a drum while also learning how to listen, focus, work together and succeed through teamwork. The project was such a hit that he continued to expand his drumming program, first to adults in recovery and eventually into the corporate setting.

The Blauvelt Speaker Series is funded in part by the generosity of the late Bradford Thomas & Eleanor G. Blauvelt and The Wintrode Family Foundation. This year’s 2021 additional sponsors include Helen M. Earles, Ph.D., Judi and Stephan Leone, New Jersey Natural Gas, Novins, York, Jacobus & Dooley, and Arlene Frank Dupignac, Jr.

This event is co-sponsored by the Office of Student Life, the Counseling Center, and the Arts and Humanities Department.