Mental and Behavioral Health
The Cornell University student-led Mental Health Task Force formally submitted a letter the administration last week, outlining proposed actions to improve Cornell’s mental health services. Proposed reforms outlined in the letter include hiring more CAPS counselors, increasing access to off-campus mental health networks, appointing permanent mental health advocates as liaisons between students and administrators and creating a transparent grading scheme to ease stress.
Harvard University is currently facing a wrongful death lawsuit accusing the University and several of its employees of negligence in their care for a Harvard undergraduate, Luke Z. Tang ’18, who died by suicide in Sept. 2015. The complaint accuses each of the defendants of “negligence and carelessness” that resulted in Tang’s death and argues the defendants are responsible for damages amounting to at least $20 million. The lawsuit filing outlines Luke Tang’s struggle with suicidal ideation, his suicide attempt during his freshman year at Harvard, and the consultation he received from Harvard officials following his return to campus.
Active Minds at Tufts, the university’s chapter of the national advocacy organization dedicated to prioritizing students’ mental health, recently began an initiative to improve paths of dialogue between students, professors and mental health facilitators. As academics produce much of the stress that college students face, Active Minds at Tufts believes that faculty members can serve as critical allies in supporting students’ mental health. Active Minds at Tufts co-President Bri Pastro said, “I think a lot of professors want to say something if they notice a student is struggling but don’t know what to do.”
In an op-ed in The Review, the University of Delaware student newspaper, student Taylor Nguyen argued that the school should provide more mental health resources to students on campus. Nguyen wrote, “At a university as wealthy as the University of Delaware, there should not be a cap to the amount of free counseling and psychiatry sessions offered by the Center for Counseling and Human Development. The university should be able and willing to balance the available resources with the vast demand for care.”
Diversity and Inclusion
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has announced its recommendation that the school build a new, $5.3 million building to house the divisive Confederate monument known as Silent Sam, which was toppled by protesters earlier this year. School leaders recommended that the statue, which must remain on the University of North Carolina’s campus according to state law, should not be returned to the site where it was previously located but should be placed in a new education and history center to be built for that purpose. The news immediately sparked plans by student and community groups to protest Monday night, objecting to what some called an expensive shrine to white supremacy. According to The Chronicle, the cost led many faculty members to wonder what else they could do with the money rather than house and protect a Confederate monument: eradicating food insecurity among undergraduates and giving faculty and staff members raises after many years of belt-tightening.
Two years ago, Harvard University‘s fraternities, sororities, and “final clubs,” which are not officially affiliated with the institution, were ordered to become co-ed. The policy was announced in 2016 by Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard’s president at the time, after a university task force on sexual-assault prevention found that “final clubs” fostered “a strong sense of sexual entitlement.” The policy barred members of single-sex groups from campus leadership positions and endorsements for such scholarships as the Rhodes and the Fulbright. On Monday, Greek life at the school struck back. A group of fraternities, sororities, and three students filed lawsuits against Harvard’s leaders, in both state and federal court, for allegedly discriminating against the organizations with the new policy.
Physical Health
The parents of a University of Maryland student who died after contracting the adenovirus are speaking out about conditions that they believe contributed to her death. Freshman Olivia Paregol died last week after complaining about flu-like symptoms. Her parents, Ian and Meg Paregol, told CBS News that the university health center did not test their daughter for the adenovirus virus despite her symptoms and knowing of a first case of the illness the day before Olivia’s visit. Three more students have been diagnosed with adenovirus at the University of Maryland’s campus in College Park, bringing the number of cases to nine in recent weeks. While the Peragols cited the presence of mold as a possible cause, the CDC has not indicated that there’s any link between it and adenovirus. The university says on its website that “it appears that there is no consistent connection between mold exposure and the incidents of adenovirus infection affecting UMD students.”
Food Insecurity
The University of Washington‘s new Campus Food Pantry helps supplement the diets of students, faculty, and staff struggling with food insecurity. “It’s been eye-opening to see the amount of demands we have received within the past weeks,” UW Food Pantry coordinator Christina Sun said. “So far, we have already seen about 200 people.” The program is committed to reducing hunger, destigmatizing food insecurity, and promoting student access while reducing food waste. It does this through regularly organized events, food drives, community donations, educational efforts, and community engagement.
In early 2019, UC Berkeley will open a Basic Needs Center, the first of its kind on campus. The center will function as a “one-stop shop” for economic, food and housing resources. According to Kiyoko Thomas, who will be the manager at the Center, since problems such as food and housing insecurity already cause additional stress for students, students will benefit from having a central location for all basic needs resources so that they “will not have to navigate the campus on their own.”
Substance Use
According to a new student health report from the Boynton Health Center at the University of Minnesota, marijuana use at the school, as reported by students, is at the highest it’s been in the past 20 years. Twenty-two percent of students reported using marijuana within the past month, a 5 percent increase since 2015. Minnesota’s governor-elect is pushing for the legalization of the drug in the state.
Sleep
In a new study at Baylor University, students who participated in “The 8-hour Challenge” — averaged eight hours of sleep for five nights during final exams week, did better than those who snubbed the initiative. “Better sleep helped rather than harmed final exam performance, which is contrary to most college students’ perceptions that they have to sacrifice either studying or sleeping. And you don’t have to be an ‘A’ student or have detailed education on sleep for this to work,” said Michael Scullin, Ph.D.,director of Baylor’s Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory and assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences.
Student Success
Six Democratic senators wrote a letter to U.S. News & World Report, compiler of the most prominent college rankings in the country, requesting that more weight be given to institutions that open their doors to students from underrepresented backgrounds. The letter, released on Monday, read. “We urge U.S. News to use its influential platform to better align its rankings with the three longstanding goals behind federal financial aid: improving college access, supporting student success, and providing every talented student a pathway to economic stability and meaningful participation in our country’s economic, social, and civic life.
