ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Two Saint Louis University students committed suicide on campus within two weeks, which has some calling out the school's "average" mental health and counseling policies.
On Monday, St. Louis police reported a 22-year-old man died of a suicide inside a residence hall. In the evening on Sept. 11, a suicide took place in a public area of campus that could be seen by people in a dining hall, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That student was a freshman, according to SLU's vice president for student development Sarah Cunningham.
The school isn't releasing further details about the deaths.
“Two student deaths in less than two weeks is just overwhelming,” said SLU’s vice president of communications Jeff Fowler. “This is a very, very difficult time for all of our students. We want to be able to do everything we can to not only help them but support them and move forward. We don’t ever want to see anything like this happen ever again.”
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A petition on Change.org started by a SLU student has more than 6,000 signatures in two days. It says the university's policy of 10 free counseling sessions per school year aren't enough. It also calls for the school to "add more highly trained counselors, allow students to change their counselor easily (without paper work or explanation), and extend the University Counseling Center's hours."
"Due to the recent student deaths on the Saint Louis University campus, we the students, call for the administration to step up and change their Mental Health and Counseling policies for the betterment of the community," the petition states. "The University's mission is "the pursuit of truth for the greater glory of God and for the service of humanity," yet the service to their students, especially in the sense of mental health, is average at best."
800-273-8255 – The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We're committed to improving crisis services and advancing suicide prevention by empowering individuals, advancing professional best practices, and building awareness.
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