Mental and Behavioral Health
A growing number of college campuses are allowing students diagnosed with mental health disorders to keep emotional support animals (ESAs) on campus. The problem is some student pet owners are taking advantage of the policy by making false claims of disability. This will likely lead to increased scrutiny of criteria.
A recently published study found that despite having similar rates of mental health problems, black and Hispanic young adults are less likely to receive mental health treatment than their white peers. White young adults received about three times more outpatient mental health services than black and Hispanic young adults. And black young adults receive substance abuse counseling at about one-seventh the rate of whites.
Like many colleges across the US, substance abuse and mental health problems at the University of Virginia are on the rise. UVA is doing something about it. The number of UVA students seeking mental health services increased 25 percent last year, prompting President Teresa A. Sullivan to direct a proactive approach in both mental health and substance abuse. The school is offering alternative activities to student drinking and teaching stress management tools, among other initiatives.
The New York Times compiles advice for parents of freshmen heading off to university from college health experts. They touch on reducing the harm of alcohol, lowering the risk of sexual assault, and protecting a student’s mental health.
Diversity and Inclusion
In looking for an additional roommate, Pitzer College student, Karé Ureña posted on Facebook “seeking “POC only,” a common abbreviation for people of color. The post set off a heated debate about discrimination, both on social media and within the campus community.
Vanderbilt University will pay $1.2 million to the Daughters of the Confederacy to allow the school to remove the word “Confederate” from a dormitory in the freshman commons. The move is the result of a lawsuit, brought by the Tennessee Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy who objected to the school’s repeated attempts to remove the word. The dorm, Confederate Memorial Hall, has been commonly referred to as Memorial Hall since 2002, when the school first attempted to remove the word from the building.
Native American students make up less than 1 percent of the nation’s college population. College Horizons, a small nonprofit based in New Mexico, is hoping to change that statistic by helping young Native Americans prepare for and enter college. The organization holds workshops on everything from admissions and financial aid to the unique challenges this group will face on campus.
In recent years, colleges and universities have placed a greater focus on diversity and inclusion on campus in order to make underrepresented groups feel welcome and supported. As the Atlantic points out, some of their efforts have drawn criticism from those who see the creation of “safe spaces” for black, LGBT, and other minority students as resegregation, and a step backward.
In an effort to determine whether or not the wealthiest colleges in the US are educating enough low-income students, The Chronicle examined the enrollment of federal Pell Grant recipients at the 25 colleges with the largest endowments per full-time undergraduates. They found that a majority of this group have less than 20 percent of their students receiving Pell Grants; three schools have less than 10 percent.
Through Title IX exemptions, some private religious colleges are legally allowed to maintain policies that prohibit certain kinds of sexual conduct and expression like same-sex relationships. Actions include refusing to hire faculty in same-sex relationships and denying housing for married same-sex students. Given that many of these schools accept federal and state grants and loans for tuition, groups such as the Human Rights Campaign and Campus Pride are calling these exemptions government-subsidized discrimination.
This year, University of South Carolina’s Office of Multicultural Student Affairs began the LGBT Peer Mentoring program. The goal of the program is to help first-year and transfer students who identify as LGBTQ transition into a new college environment.
Sexual Assault and Title IX
A Colorado judge rejected the prosecution’s request to send a former University of Colorado student and convicted sexual assailant to prison. James Wilkerson, convicted of sexually assaulting a female student while he was a student at UC, was sentenced to at least 20 years of probation and two years of a work-release program.
Guns on Campus
Since its founding in 2007, Second Amendment Rights group, “Students for Concealed Carry on Campus” has transformed from a small Facebook community into an organization of tens of thousands of enthusiasts who speak out and lobby for permission to arm themselves with concealed handguns on campuses across the country.
