Wartburg College will host 14 small, rural colleges and teams of campus crisis management members during a suicide-prevention conference Monday, April 22.
Wartburg was one of 39 colleges or universities to receive a Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention Grant to educate students, faculties and staffs on the issue. The legislation was sponsored by Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith, whose son suffered from depression and took his life while at college.
Dr. Michael Bostwick, professor of psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and researcher of psychosomatic topics and suicidology, will deliver the conference’s keynote speech.
“Teams will collaborate with other schools to learn about what resources on campus they have, what resources they need to develop and what resources are available to help them develop, “ said Dr. Deborah Loers, vice president for student life and a psychologist. “We think that will be a powerful way to spread awareness and to help schools come up with concrete actions to take.”
The grant already has helped Wartburg’s suicide-prevention program, according to coordinator Kelly Benter.
“We will have completed up to a dozen trainings by the end of this school year, with hopes to have more than 150 students trained as gatekeepers,” Benter said. “We want to focus on what happens 20 steps before suicide even comes into the picture.”
Suicide Awareness for Everyone, a new campus organization, has been created with the grant. Benter said the goal is to develop SAFE into a sustainable organization that will continue after the grant finishes in three years.
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 more than 50 attempts since 2005.
Wartburg was the only small rural college to receive this grant, which Loers attributed to the “pay it forward” aspect of Wartburg’s plan.
“We hope that, as a small college in a rural setting, we can provide a model for how other schools like ours can improve their services to students,” Loers said. “Wartburg can be and should be a leader in ways to help support students. We’re not afraid to look at difficult subjects and to address them with creativity and a positive approach.”