Mental and Behavioral Health
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that 27 percent of medical students suffer from depression and 11 percent have suicidal thoughts.
According to a new study, therapist-assisted, online programming reduced symptoms of anxiety, created a better sense of well-being, and improved mental health among college students. The treatment was found to be more effective than traditional face-to-face, hour-long psychotherapy sessions.
Ithaca College student Michayla Savitt created and hosts a podcast called, “The Scoop on Mental Health,” where she and a guest discuss college-related mental health issues over ice cream.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Chronicle interviewed Pomona College President David W. Oxtoby about his advocacy for undocumented immigrant students. The California college prepared a letter supporting the DACA program, and circulated it among college presidents across the country. Over 400 college presidents have signed the letter.
On Tuesday, white nationalist Richard Spencer spoke at the Texas A&M University student center, an event that was met with protests and a competing “unity event” across the street. Before his appearance at the school, The Chronicle of Higher Education interviewed him about his plans to bring his alt-right movement to college campuses throughout the country.
Harvard University placed its men’s cross country team on “athletic probation” after a review found that members of the 2014 team made “crude and sexualized statements” in an online spreadsheet about that year’s women’s team. This was found after the school cancelled the men’s soccer season after a “scouting report” including explicit rankings of the women’s team was discovered.
Following two weeks of protests at Hampshire college, the school’s President, Jonathan Lash announced that the school would re-raise the American flag on the campus. The school made the decision to stop flying the flag in reaction to protests arguing that the flag was a representation of racism and hate.
On Friday, a Yale University committee released a report announcing a new policy for renaming university buildings. The new policy would allow the University to revisit the controversial decision made last year not to rename a building that commemorates Yale graduate John C. Calhoun. The 19th century Vice President and U.S. senator from South Carolina, was a prominent advocate of slavery and white supremacy.
The Atlantic questions how the mission of the U.S. Office of Civil Rights“to ensure equal access to education” might be interpreted under a Trump administration. In recent years the office has focused on sexual harassment and violence, racial bullying, and transgender discrimination.
In an Op-Ed for the Washington Post, Anthony P. Carnevale, Director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, argued that as white students flee open-access colleges for the nation’s top 500 colleges and universities, racial inequality continues to worsen.
Food Insecurity
A new report based on 2016 data collected from 90 community colleges and nearly 25,000 students reveals that food and housing insecurities continue to be a major issue across the country, especially for African-American and Southeast Asian students.
Hazing
Tufts University suspended all social activity at fraternities for the remainder of the semester after receiving allegations of hazing and sexual misconduct at several Greek organizations. Administrators have launched multiple investigations and issued cease-and-desist orders to four fraternities at the Massachusetts school.
Sexual Assault and Title IX
The University of Wisconsin system is poised to be the first in the country to standardize sexual assault training and policies across all of its campuses. The new model mandates the same online training for all students and employees and could be a template for other state school systems.
At the University of Georgia, a human rights group on campus is organizing the Athens Sexual Assault Prevention campaign. At the kickoff meeting, suggestions for action included teaching sexual assault prevention courses to grade-level students, reinstituting a blue light system at UGA, providing safe transportation from bars, and educating service workers such as bartenders on how to act in a bystander situation of sexual assault.
Iowa State’s campus police is involved in a new multidisciplinary team dedicated to sexual assault. The Story County Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) also includes nurses and counseling center staff. “A lot of power and a lot of control has been taken away from the victim by the fact that they were sexually assaulted,” said Anthony Greiter, community outreach officer for the Iowa State Police Department. “We want to try and give them that power back.”
Safety
Two libertarian groups at the University of Maryland are advocating for concealed carry of mace and knives over 5 inches long on campus. Currently, students are not allowed to possess either; any changes would have to be passed by the University Senate.
Substance abuse
With semester finals approaching, the University of Georgia’s student paper examines the research on ADHD drugs. It is believed that during exam period, many students take pills not prescribed to them or take their drugs at a higher rate than prescribed. Ironically, a report by the Center on Young Adult Health and Development found that study drug users, on average, have a lower GPA than those who do not use the drugs.
Tobacco
In a close vote, 49 percent of Georgetown students voted to in favor of a Georgetown University Student Association referendum to make the campus tobacco and smoke free. Although the referendum does not was independent of school administration’s efforts to ban smoking on campus, but the results will be used to gauge student feelings for those efforts.
