Mental and Behavioral Health
University of Florida President Kent Fuchs expressed his concern for student health at a recent Board of Trustees meeting, recommending additional staff at the Counselling and Wellness Center. “This is an area in every university in the nation where there’s growing demand,” he told the Board.
At the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Dr. Megan A. Moreno is studying young people who turn to social media platforms as they work through their mental health concerns. While some online communities serve as how-to guides for self harm, others functioned as positive support networks.
PRIME, an app that connects people with schizophrenia to their peers and counselors, is successful in part because it was largely developed by young adults with schizophrenia.
Alison Malmon, founder of Active Minds, tells the story of her brother’s mental illness, which he struggled with throughout college and which ultimately led to his death by suicide. Alison started Active Minds to begin a public conversation about mental health and the stigmas associated with mental illness.
Townson University educator Andrew Reiner discusses the importance of giving boys and young men an emotional education in the New York Times, explaining the consequences of reaffirming tough-guy male stereotypes. “As men continue to fall behind women in college, while outpacing them four to one in the suicide rate, some colleges are waking up to the fact that men may need to be taught to think beyond their own stereotypes.”
Inclusion on Campus
Unviersity of California Berkeley Chancellor and law professor discusses freedom of speech in the Chronicle, and recognizes “this generation’s expectation that we care about the psychological impact that hateful and intolerant speech has on its victims.”
The Washington Post reports that multiple fires were set at a dormitory at St. Mary’s College of Maryland over the course of a week, following months of racial tension on campus, including incidents with Confederate flags and swastikas.
University of Wisconsin Vice Provost Patrick Sims responded to racist incidents on campus with an emotional video posted on social media, garnering mixed reactions. The video, demonstrating new ways college administrators can communicate with student activists, has received mostly positive feedback. However, some students characterized the video as a continuation of the “all talk, no action” response of the administration.
In the face of high-profile protests calling for its removal, Princeton University board of trustees voted to retain Woodrow Wilson’s name on its public-policy school and a residential college. The Atlantic provides a cheat sheet on the evolution of protests and student activism over the racial climate on college campuses.
The fallout from pro-Trump chalkings on Emory campus continues; University students respond to criticisms over their response to on-campus support for the the controversial candidate.
Safety
Five members of University of Virginia men’s swim team settled a lawsuit last week, after a student reported being hazed during a “welcome week” annual tradition.
As reported in the New York Times, Boston University researchers provided “the most rigorous evidence to date that overall exposure to contact in former high school and college football players could predict their likelihood of experiencing problems like depression, apathy or memory loss years later.”
Sexual Health
Boston College Undergraduate Government passes a proposal encouraging administration of the Jesuit Catholic university to promote sexual positivity on campus, in part by easing restrictions on the on how student groups use their funds, allowing for discussion on sexuality and distribution of contraception. The University does not currently distribute contraceptives or allow student groups to do so, citing Jesuit values.
538 takes the media to task for talking about college as if students only attended elite institutions: a private four-year school with low acceptance rates. In fact, nearly half of American college students attend community college. More than three quarters of undergraduates will go to school that accepts at least half of their applicants. This skewed portrayal has an effect on education policy and our collective idea of what college really is.
