Editor’s Note: The following article contains discussion of suicide and mental health struggles that readers may find distressing.
Emma Treadway, Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Princetonian wrote an Opinions piece entitled ‘Mental Health Matters. We Should Act Like It,’ March 25, 2021. The article was prompted by the recent passing of Rachael Shaw-Rosenbaum, a Yale first year student who died by suicide. After a year of “ambiguous loss,” Treadway announced her decision to cut down the newspaper production schedule from five days a week to four.
Outcry at other universities like Princeton, along with the overall stress of the third virtual semester have prompted Smith students to speak out for stronger, more accessible, mental health services.
Treadway called on Princeton University administration and students alike to make allowances for themselves and others in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the rising number of racist attacks in the United States. She concluded her article saying “Lives are at stake, and it is time for our community to act.”
Harvard and Yale students have also called for stronger mental health care for students. At Yale, student organization Students Unite Now released a report entitled “Broken Promises”, which highlights Yale’s inadequacy in allocating sufficient mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
They asked for Yale to reduce wait times for counseling appointments, saying “Yale is already aware that a student body can only “flourish” with adequate mental health resources, and yet, students wait weeks and even months to get the care we need. If Yale truly wants students to flourish, they must reduce wait times to two weeks.”
They also asked for more LGBTQ+ therapists and therapists of color on staff, to provide a safe space for students who share those identities. They stated, “If Yale truly wants students of color to participate in campus life on equal ground, they must hire more therapists of color, particularly Black therapists.”
Opinion writer, Dereen Shirnekhi, wrote in a recent article for the Yale Daily News about her own mental health struggles during the pandemic. She wrote, “Since the start of remote classes, I have felt a deep and constant fatigue from online schooling … I have little energy for joy, especially when I don’t have the social support I grew used to from my peers.” But even before the pandemic, she notes that Yale’s mental health care was insufficient.
The Harvard Crimson also released an editorial about mental health services April 8, writing “Rachael’s story leaves us gasping for air because in another universe, her name could have been replaced with our friend’s name. Our own name.” The editorial board acknowledged that Harvard’s mental health services are inadequate in aiding struggling students.
On March 31, Smith College Counseling Services emailed Smith students, writing: “All of us at the Counseling Service are aware that this is a challenging time for so many of you. Maybe you are adjusting to being back on campus, navigating pandemic fatigue and isolation, feeling unsafe or angry about racist violence and oppression, experiencing overwhelm when making plans for after the semester, having focus and attention issues, feeling anxious or depressed, managing family expectations and situations, drowning in academic work, or are curious about your sexuality or gender.”
The Counseling Service Team continued to list ways that students can access different forms of mental health support through Smith.
Many students, however, struggle to receive adequate mental health support from the college. A student who wished to remain anonymous said that Counseling Services is “severely understaffed.” Even with the continued growth of the department, she said “It’s impossible to get an appointment.” Many students either have to wait weeks or months for an appointment, or are instead referred to therapists in Northampton.
When asked for a comment, Smith College Counseling Services told the Sophian that students can refer to their website for appointments and other information.
Another anonymous student remarked that she never considered counseling at Smith. She told the Sophian, “I knew going into college that I needed consistent mental health care and I knew I couldn’t get that through Smith.”
Currently, this student sees a therapist outside of Smith twice weekly to work through various mental health issues, issues that she says are often exacerbated by the many pressures of higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said “I think a lot of times professors don’t understand that they’re contributing to our bad mental health.” She feels that Smith’s mental health support is hollow; the college may send out emails saying they value students’ mental health, but some professors aren’t allowing extensions or absences.
When students were sent home due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, President McCartney did purchase a Calm app subscription for students, staff and faculty members.
This student doesn’t think this was enough, in a final comment she said, “Smith is very performative with mental health care, like, what am I supposed to do with a Calm app?”
(Photo: The Schacht Center courtesy of Smith College)
