Mental and Behavioral Health
Minnesota Public Radio‘s Kerri Miller spoke with Stefanie Lyn Kaufman, the founder and executive director of Project LETS and Rashida Fisher, director of the Co-Occurring Disorders Program and adjunct faculty member at Adler Graduate School, about the changing culture of mental health on college campuses and the new wave of student-led programs that are reshaping the conversation. Kaufman was also featured in the Spring issue of the Mary Christie Quarterly.
British researchers recently investigated the impact of academic and non-academic stressors on mental health in university students, finding that while university-related stressors are moderate predictors of experiencing depression, general life stressors have been identified as more significant determinants of depressive symptoms. The evidence shows that relationship stressors are the most common source of stress reported by university students. Other stressors included: students having high expectations of themselves, lacking important coping resources like time, sleep, support, and money. Loneliness consistently occurred as the strongest predictor of poor mental health. The researchers also tested whether individuals’ identification with relevant social groups in the university setting could serve to reduce symptom risk, confirming that identifying with university friends decreased feelings of loneliness, thereby decreasing the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and paranoia.
Florida State University is offering a new online tool to help incoming students adjust to campus, improve mental health, increase resilience and reduce stress. The “Student Resilience Project” is an online, evidence-informed trauma resilience training tool developed by the Institute for Family Violence Studies at the FSU College of Social Work. The project uses engaging animation, videos and numerous TED-talk style educational audio sessions from faculty and mental health providers. The training helps students build on their existing strengths and provides them with new strategies that promote health, resilience and coping skills
Diversity and Inclusion
A group of University of Virginia faculty compiled a book of essays, titled Charlottesville 2017. Claudrena Harold, a professor of African-American and African studies and history at UVA who co-edited the volume, spoke to The Chronicle about how the campus has felt different since the Unite the Right white supremacist rally last year, yet also very much the same.
Princeton University will rename an archway for James Collins (Jimmy) Johnson, a fugitive slave who once worked on campus. After his escape in Maryland in the early 19th century, Johnson became a janitor and later sold snacks to students. Just beyond the arch stands a statue of a former college president and slave-owner, John Witherspoon. According to Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber, that juxtaposition is a way of confronting students and visitors with “the complexities of this institution.”
The nonprofit organization behind the Common Application, a single form that students can fill out to apply to any college that uses it, announced this week that, starting next year, it will no longer ask students about their criminal history. The change will likely be the biggest help to low-income students of color, who are disproportionately likely to have been convicted of a crime.
Since 2016, top women’s colleges have seen significant gains in enrollment, some expecting record classes, as more young women embrace Me Too and resistance to Republican politics. Women’s colleges typically have a strong commitment to social justice, values that seem to resonate with today’s prospective students. When colleges survey students about why they enrolled, typically academic programs, prestige, campus life and career goals top the list and other factors fall well below. This year, when Mount Holyoke asked students why they enrolled, 54 percent said that awareness of social movements influenced their decision “quite a bit” or “very much.”
Sexual Assault and Title IX
In Massachusetts, a bill that aims to gather better information about the prevalence of campus sexual assault faltered in the final hours of formal sessions for the year after the House and Senate took different approaches, leaving its prospects unclear. The bill would have created a task force to develop a sexual assault survey and then require all colleges and universities in Massachusetts to put out a version of it to their students every two years. It cleared the House unanimously on July 25, six days before the final formal session of the two-year legislative term, but was amended in the Senate. After adopting the amendment, the Senate passed its version of the bill, which is now before the House Committee on Bills in Third Reading. Advocates say they are ready to continue their push.
C.L. “Max” Nikias has agreed to step down immediately as president of the University of Southern California after facing intense pressure to do so in the wake of a series of scandals. In May, the Los Angeles Times reported that USC had allowed George Tyndall, a gynecologist at the school’s health clinic to continue treating students for years despite complaints of sexual abuse. Hundreds of women said they had been victimized by the doctor over his more than 30 years at USC. After those revelations, many faculty members called on Nikias to resign and the board to restore moral leadership to the university.
Substance Use
A forum this month at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, part of it’s “Health & Higher Ed” series, brought together hospital personnel and college administrators to discuss the impact of marijuana legislation for local college campuses. Representatives from eight local colleges attended. During her presentation at the forum, Dr. Elizabeth Booma, the hospital’s director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Consultation-Liaison Service, said that marijuana’s legalization may lead students to mistakenly believe that marijuana is not addictive, or that it does not impair one’s ability to drive. This summer, the Mary Christie Foundation issued a paper on college substance use with details of a presentation by Dr. Jason Kilmer who shared this concern.
Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights
California legislators are taking up a bill that would make the state the first in the nation to mandate public universities offer medical abortion as part of basic student health services. The measure, which passed the state Senate in January, would expand abortion rights at a time when some other states are enacting new restrictions on the procedure. The bill came before a key Assembly committee last week, which decided to determine by the end of next week whether it will move to the floor.
Physical Health
A new campaign launching next week, “Beware the B” is trying to get major universities to mandate vaccination for the rarer form of meningitis. Medical professionals and immunization experts from different states have signed a letter asking the 14 institutions that are a part of the Big Ten Conference, some of the most prominent universities in the country, to mandate that their students be vaccinated against meningitis B.
The University of Maryland suspended its head coach, D.J. Durkin and three other staffers, including strength and conditioning coach Rick Court, last week — one day after an ESPN report detailed “a coaching environment based on fear and intimidation,” including “extreme verbal abuse” … “meant to mock their masculinity.” In May, Freshman Jordan McNair, who was 19, died two weeks after being hospitalized following a May 29 team workout. He collapsed after running 110-yard sprints, showing signs of extreme exhaustion and difficulty standing upright. No official cause of death has been released, but ESPN reported Friday that he died of heatstroke suffered during the workout and had a body temperature of 106 degrees after being taken to a hospital. A lawyer for McNair’s family, Billy Murphy Jr., says coaches showed a disregard for the student’s health. Several current University of Maryland football players and people close to the program describe a toxic coaching culture.
Upcoming Event
On September 20th, policymakers, academics, business and community leaders, clinicians, and first responders will gather in Boston for “America is Watching: Response to the Opioid Crisis in New England“. Through five panel discussions, the forum will delineate government initiatives, describe innovative approaches to increasing access to care, examine what constitutes quality treatment, and explore controversial treatments.
