By Hannah Lilienthal

Wartburg College’s suicide prevention program is being expanded after receiving a $73,000 federal grant — the only small school selected for funding.

Wartburg was one of 39 colleges or universities to receive a federal Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention Grant to educate students, faculty and staff on the issue. The legislation was sponsored by Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith, whose son suffered from depression and took his life while at college.

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the third leading cause of death for those 15-24 years old. Wartburg has had no recorded suicides, but has had 52 attempts since 2005.

“There are so many myths about suicide that it becomes a quiet topic. A lot of times, people just don’t know what their role in suicide-prevention is,” said Stephanie Newsom, Wartburg’s director of counseling services.

“What we’re seeing is that lots of college-age students are lacking in the area of resiliency,” she added. “They haven’t learned as many coping skills and aren’t as able to reach out for help.”

Newsom established Wartburg’s current suicide-prevention protocols. The expanded program includes hiring suicide-prevention program coordinator Kelly Benter, a 2010 Wartburg graduate.

“I want to start spreading the message that suicide prevention is a campus-wide responsibility,” Benter said. “I have high hopes that by doing this everyone on campus will get involved in this preventable public health crisis.”

Dr. Deborah Loers, vice president for student life and a psychologist, will assist with the effort.

“It is very positive recognition for the college and for the work they’re doing in the counseling center and other places on campus,” Loers said. “To be awarded such a grant means they believed we would carry out its terms effectively.”

Wartburg will dedicate a portion of the funding to inviting other small colleges to participate in a suicide-prevention workshop. Rural colleges are “an area of need,” said Newsom, who sees Wartburg’s plan as “paying it forward.

“We feel very pleased to be the only small school to be awarded one of these grants, and that we will be able to also help other small rural colleges address these issues,” Loers said.
 
The workshop — tentatively scheduled for this April — will be part of a three-year process of creating a more comprehensive suicide prevention program. 

“We hope that at the end of the three years we will have a more robust and intentional, very current suicide prevention program,” Loers said.