Mental and Behavioral Health
Ernesto Hernandez, an Arizona State University student, chartered a National Alliance on Mental Illness chapter at ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus last week. “Bringing NAMI’s expertise, educational background and their services to the Downtown Phoenix campus — and to ASU in general — is essentially what I want to do to end that stigma,” he said.
Gene Beresin, a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Executive Director of The MGH Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds, looks at “the good, the bad and the ugly of the college mental health universe,” labeling suicide the ugliest side of the college experience. Beresin then lists steps colleges can take to prevent suicide on their campuses.
According to the Daily Orange, Syracuse University’s Mental Health Action Committee, housed within the student government, is preparing a report on campus mental health to present to school administrators. The report will present the currently available resources and suggest future policy changes.
At Brigham Young University, a predominantly Mormon school, students report blaming themselves for mental health issues. Brooke Adams, a BYU senior, is working with four classmates to try and change that by teaching students to be less hard on themselves and more aware of the real signs of emotional suffering. “Sometimes, the conception is, ‘I wouldn’t be struggling with my mental health if I were praying harder, or if I were doing everything perfectly the way I was supposed to be doing,’” Adams, told the school paper.
Inclusion and Diversity
Following President Trump’s reversal of the Obama administration policy allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice, Penn State’s student government is considering legislation to support the transgender community.
New research from Rutgers University shows that minority groups are more perceptive of prejudice against other minority groups, an effect lead researcher Diana Sanchez named “stigma-by-prejudice-transfer.” Sanchez hopes an understanding of the study, titled “Stigma by Prejudice Transfer: Racism Threatens White Women and Sexism Threatens Men of Color,” could help build a better sense of community by providing a greater understanding of prejudice against stigmatized groups.
Students4Justice, a student group at the University of Michigan, was accused of racism after asking the school for space for students of color to organize. “I think it’s just been a really interesting firestorm. Because we asked for a space for students of color, people automatically assumed that no white students would be allowed, whereas that’s never explicit in the language,” Vikrant Garg, one of the group’s organizers, told The Washington Post. The school has dealt with multiple instances of racism since the the school year began.
Betsy DeVos called HBCUs “pioneers of school choice” at a meeting with HBCU leaders, leading to rapid backlash over the erasure of the historical conditions that made HBCUs a necessity.
The Atlantic reports on the changing perception of President of University of California system Janet Napolitano, whose appointment students protested in 2013 because of the deportations she oversaw in her previous role as head of the Department of Homeland Security. Napolitano has become one of the leading defenders of DACA. She was a key figure in implementing the program in 2012.
Sexual Assault and Title IX
In an op-ed for Arizona State University’s student paper, Sky Jordan writes that rape culture is normalized because it isn’t looked at as a cultural issue that stems from socially gendered norms. “Rape is not about stupid decisions or frenzied desire,” she writes. “Rape is about power, control and dominance.”
According to records obtained by the Daily Bruin, UCLA’s student paper, there were 113 cases of violations to the University’s sexual assault policies by University of California system faculty, staff and employees between January 2013 and April 2016. Program chairs and department directors were among the faculty on the list.
Ohio University started an ambassadorship program for survivors of sexual assault, which will provide confidential support and counseling to survivors of sexual assault, stalking, and relationship violence.
Guns on Campus
In the Daily Iowan, Katrina Custardo argues against a bill introduced in the state legislature that would not allow counties to make their own decision about concealed carry. The bill would, therefore, not allow the University of Iowa to declare the campus a gun-free zone, as its current firearms ban does.
In Morgantown, home to West Virginia University, the city council voted to narrowly limit concealed carry in the city. The new law only allows active and retired law enforcement officials to carry within municipal property.
Drug Use
In the University of Alabama-Birmingham’s student paper, Connor McDonald writes about his personal use of Adderall to manage his ADHD and the negative side effects the drug can have when abused. “Our society and its infinite embrace of pharmaceuticals has placed Adderall on a dangerous pedestal,” he writes. “Many view it as a drug that only makes your life easier, and, as someone prescribed Adderall, I can say that just simply couldn’t be further from the truth.”
NEDA Week
Schools across the country engaged in National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, with talks from alumna, advocacy groups, and in patient programs.
