Mental and Behavioral Health
A former Washington and Lee University student-athlete is suing the university and one of its counselors for medical malpractice and negligence over events leading up to his attempted suicide in 2017. In documents filed in a Virginia circuit court, Kionte Burnette said he disclosed suicidal thoughts and his plan to take his own life to a counselor at the school. He said the counselor ended the conversation after “five to ten minutes,” telling him to attend classes and football practice and then check himself into the Student Health Center for overnight observation. That evening, Burnette attempted to take his own life, leading to significant injuries. The lawsuit alleges the counselor made him promise not to harm himself, rather than reporting his suicidal thoughts, a decision that “deviated from the applicable standard of care and treatment.”
The mother of a Northwestern University student is suing the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, alleging that her daughter, Jordan Hankins, experienced hazing that caused severe anxiety and depression and led to her suicide in January 2017. The sorority issued a statement on Friday saying the group does not condone hazing and that universities should do more to help new students deal with mental health issues. The statement says that “because of the sensitive nature of Jordan’s death and the ongoing grief her family is experiencing, we will not comment publicly on the facts of this matter.” But the statement goes on to say that “as more and more students arrive on campus with mental health issues and struggle to deal with the rigors of college, the need for appropriately staffed mental health centers becomes imperative.”
In a column for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Collin Spencer, a junior at Georgia Tech, member of President G.P. Peterson’s Campus Culture Action Team and director of the school’s Mental Health Student Coalition, wrote about the state of mental health at the school. According to Spencer, “A concerted movement to improve mental health has been ongoing since at least the 2013 Mental Health Task Force. More public events, conversations, and use of additional information networks are needed. Failure in this area simplifies a complex issue to merely “Georgia Tech needs more counselors.”” Spencer also wrote that “the crisis requires an unprecedented level of research and engagement between students, faculty, administration, parents, and legislators. We are tasked with the challenge of augmenting current mental health resources to meet the demand of today while implementing policies that will reduce the demand of tomorrow.”
At a meeting last week, the Associated Students of Washington State UniversitySenate passed a resolution that will call on state legislators in the House of Representatives in Washington to support mental health resources for university students. “Mental health is incredibly important for all college campuses,” Tyler Parchem, ASWSU vice president said. “It’s an epidemic, it’s happening right now, and no one really wants to talk about it especially because we’re really susceptible to a lot of stress, a lot of emotion, a lot of change in our lives.” According to the resolution, the Washington State Department of Health will be required to hire a contractor to create statewide resources for behavioral health and suicide prevention in colleges. These efforts will be funded through a grant program.
The NCAA Sports Science Institute announced a partnership with Hilinski’s Hope, the foundation set up last year in memory of Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski, who died by suicide last year. The partnership supports the foundation’s work to improve mental health screening and awareness among student-athletes. “The NCAA Sport Science Institute is proud to partner with Hilinski’s Hope to identify effective strategies for increasing the adoption and implementation of best practices for understanding and supporting student-athlete mental wellness at all NCAA-member institutions,” Dr. Brian Hainline, the NCAA chief medical officer, said in a news release
Diversity and Inclusion
A recent study showed that having just one black teacher not only lowers black students’ high school dropout rates and increases their desire to go to college, but also can make them more likely to enroll in college. According to the study, black students who have just one black teacher in elementary school are 13 percent more likely to enroll in college than their peers who didn’t have any black teachers. Students who have two black teachers are 32 percent more likely to go to college.
Carol Folt, the Chancellor of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, announced Monday that she had ordered the last remnants of Silent Sam, a Confederate monument to be removed from campus to ensure student safety. In the same message, she announced that she will step down at the end of the academic year. The UNC system’s Board of Governors released a statement saying its members were “incredibly disappointed” that she had made a decision related to Silent Sam without their input, and on Tuesday voted to make her departure effective at the end of January, four months early. The statue has long been controversial at the University, where it stood for more than a century at a prominent campus entrance, with many decrying it as a symbol of racism. Protesters tore down the statue last year, but a nine-foot-tall base and commemorative plaques had remained in place. Late last year the university proposed housing it in a new, on-campus history center. That recommendation prompted fierce protests from students, professors, and activists who said it would effectively re-erect a symbol of white supremacy. In her message to the campus, Folt said, “As chancellor, the safety of the UNC-Chapel Hill community is my clear, unequivocal, and nonnegotiable responsibility. The presence of the remaining parts of the monument on campus poses a continuing threat both to the personal safety and well-being of our community and to our ability to provide a stable, productive educational environment. No one learns at their best when they feel unsafe.”
Sexual Assault and Title IX
John M. Engler, the interim president of Michigan State University, is under fire for saying in an interview on Friday that sexual-abuse survivors are “enjoying” the “spotlight” that they’ve drawn since they went public with stories of being sexually assaulted by a former sports doctor at the university. Dianne Y. Byrum, the chairwoman of the university’s Board of Trustees, criticized Engler’s comments in a message to The Chronicle. “His remarks were ill advised and not helpful to the healing process, survivors, or the university,” Byrum, a former Democratic lawmaker, said in a direct message on Twitter. On Monday, more members of Michigan State University’s Board of Trustees came forward to criticize Engler.
Substance Use
Stanford University is taking action to curb what it considers dangerously high rates of alcohol consumption on campus. In an email, Provost Persis Drell wrote, “students are regularly being transported to emergency rooms and an alarming rate of students are found passed out after a night out.” In order to curb this issue, the Stanford School of Law will be taking a deeper look into the data and policies to come up with recommendations in the winter quarter. Stanford University will partner with the Jed Foundation, which addresses the link between mental health and alcohol abuse.
Politics and Policy
The U.S. Education Department will relax rules to make it easier for families to provide proof of their income, clearing the way for low income college students to gain access to federal loans and grants. Rather than having to obtain an official tax transcript to verify their household income, students can now provide signed copies of tax returns. College financial aid officers will also be allowed to accept signed statements from applicants whose families do not file tax returns.
Hunger and Homelessness
A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, cites widespread evidence of hunger on college campuses, and urges officials to work with states and colleges to help more students get access to government food assistance. The GAO reviewed more than two dozen studies of student access to food and found food insecurity rates ranged from 9 percent to more than 50 percent. The report found nearly 2 million students from low-income backgrounds who were potentially eligible for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in 2016 did not receive the benefits. Confusion over eligibility often hinders access. The report recommended the Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition Service clarify on its website who is eligible and share more information on state efforts to promote the program among college students. Federal law bars many full-time college students from participating in the nutrition program but allows exceptions including parents with young children, participants in federal work-study programs, recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and students who work at least 20 hours a week.
Greek Life
The University of California at Irvine has suspended the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity after a student’s death at an off-campus home. Freshman Noah Domingo died Saturday morning. He had been initiated into the fraternity during the fall term. According to Irvine police spokeswoman Kim Mohr, police interviewed witnesses, but the investigation is preliminary and the coroner has not released a cause of death.
