AUDIO TRANSCRIPT: Syracuse University hosts suicide prevention training session, but students on campus do not know it exists.
Colleen Nakhooda: SU is hosting a program called Campus Connect, which is designed to give students the tools to recognize when someone may be struggling– and how to respond.
Colleen Nakhooda: The 90-minute suicide prevention training is tailored to college students to help them respond to classmates in distress. The program is scheduled for this afternoon, but students like Christa Bromfielg and Azaria Muhammead say they’ve never heard of the program to begin with, pointing to a lack of visibility on campus.
Christa Bromfielg: No, not at all. Like I have not heard, like anything from friends or like even like acquaintances, or walking past people like nothing.
Azaria Muhammaed: No not at all to be honest – Unless they’re like searching for it like actively.
Colleen Nakhooda: Others like Valentina Davis say that while Syracuse University offers strong mental health resources, they are not always clearly communicated to students.
Valentina Davis: Although I feel like there should be more, it should be more publicized and aware to students, just because I personally haven’t heard of this training happening, but I’m glad that there is something that is put in place.
Colleen Nakhooda: And in addition Antara Stromayer says she doesn’t feel prepared to help someone in crisis.
Antara Stromayer: I don’t think that I am prepared to help because I don’t, I’m not overly aware of the resources that I can kind of help turn them to. Um, and like as a bystander, I guess, there’s only so much I can do as an individual. Especially because I am not like trained in any way to effectively help them.
Colleen Nakhooda: Campus Connect aims to change that– but with a lack of publicity about the event and a robot to answer the calls, it appears difficult for students to get involved.
Colleen Nakhooda: NCC News reached out to the event contact and Barnes Center at the Arch for more information, but did not receive a response. Reporting live from studio, I’m Colleen Nakhooda, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Syracuse University mental health resources hosted Campus Connect for their 90-minute suicide prevention training program. While the event was open to all students, many said they had never heard of the program or seen any information about the event details.
CNY Vitals reports that based on its most recent data, it is estimated that residents of Central New York counties had an average of 5.9 mentally unhealthy days per month, and suicide rates have increased in every one of the region’s five counties in the last decade.
Mental health is a topic commonly discussed on college campuses between acquaintances, but often is not referred to the proper professionals.
“I feel comfortable talking to my close friends about mental health and things I may be struggling with, but I don’t think people are super willing to talk to a professional or depend on other resources,” Syracuse University sophomore Valentina Davis said.
This is why Campus Connect’s training session aimed to “empower campus community members to engage confidently and compassionately with peers in distress,” according to the Barnes Center at the Arch event page.
After speaking with multiple students, they said they would have been interested in attending the session, but had no idea it was taking place, especially because they do not often feel prepared enough to help a friend in a mental health crisis.
“I think I would not be prepared to help them. Like, honestly, I don’t think I have like the resources or the emotional capacity to really understand and like connect with them,” said sophomore Christa Bromfielg.
The university did not post event details on any of its main social media platforms and did not inform the student body of the program through email or weekly reminders.
Students Azaria Muhammaed and Antara Stromayer said that unless students are “actively searching” for the event on the health and wellness portal, they do not know how there will be any attendance at all.
Others say that while Syracuse University offers strong mental health resources, they’re not always clearly communicated to students.
“I feel like there should be more, it should be more publicized and aware to students, just because I personally haven’t heard of this training happening, but I’m glad that there is something that is put in place,” said Davis.
The contact information listed under Campus Connect event details directs those interested to the automated Barnes Center at the Arch answering system, which has limited hours and no direct representative to ask about the event.
The lack of publicity and awareness about the event brings a larger conversation to the table: Are mental health resources as accessible to college students as they appear?
NCC News did reach out to Barnes Center at the Arch for more information, but did not receive a response.