94 CommentsThis morning, Dean Valentini sent out an email to the Columbia community with regard to the passing of Joshua Villa, CC ’18. In the email, Villa is asked to be remembered as a “caring and valued member of the community.” In order to offer support to Villa’s peers and members of the community, Counseling and Psychological Services (212-854-2878) will be open until 10 pm tonight, from 2-7 pm tomorrow, and from 2-6 pm on Sunday. In addition, Carman Lounge will be open this afternoon as a gathering space for students in need of support throughout the rest of the day.
Nightline Peer Listening is always available, as well, for students to call between 10 pm and 3 am every night. You can find support by reaching them at 212-854-7777. In addition, Barnard will be providing counseling services in Furman until 7 pm tonight at 212-854-2092, and an on-call clinician is available throughout the weekend at 855-622-1903. If you’d like to talk to your class dean, they will all be available by e-mail throughout the weekend.
Email sent to students this morning:
Dear Students,
It is with deep sadness and regret that I write to inform you of the loss of one of our students. Joshua Villa, a first year Columbia College student from Azusa, California, and resident of Carman Hall, has passed away. Campus administrators have been in contact with Joshua’s family to provide support and assistance during this difficult time. In line with protocol, local law enforcement is present in Carman Hall and may be here throughout the day.
With the death of Joshua, we grieve the loss of a caring and valued member of our community. Joshua was very involved with the Columbia Mentoring Initiative, Proud Colors, and the Columbia Queer Alliance.
When we lose a member of our community, we are all affected by the loss. During this difficult time, I encourage you to rely on one another and on University resources. Carman Lounge will be open as a gathering space throughout the afternoon and evening. Members of our Residential Life staff will be available throughout the day and over the weekend in all of your residence halls and may be reached by contacting the RA On-call in your building. Dean Cristen Kromm will also welcome students to her apartment in 916 Wallach from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow and Sunday.
You may also seek support from professional staff by calling or visiting Counseling and Psychological Services (212-854-2878), which will be open until 10 p.m. tonight, from 2-7 p.m. tomorrow, and from 2-6 p.m. on Sunday; or by contacting the Center for Student Advising (212-854-6378) and the Office of the University Chaplain (212-854-1493).
I know we are united in mourning the loss of such a promising member of our community. We wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to Joshua’s family for their terrible loss and ask that you keep them in your thoughts in the days ahead.
Sincerely,
James J. Valentini
Dean of Columbia College and
Vice President for Undergraduate Education
cc: Mary C. Boyce, Dean of The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science
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94 Comments
@Anonymous We sent our darling Joshua to Columbia with hopes he’ll come back on break with great stories on how much he loved it, but now our sunshine is gone and I have forever lost my best friend . Please Columbia better your resources for no one should get to that bad of a low to feel as if that is their only option.
@Josh's friend Josh was an amazing person. It saddens me that I’ll never see him again but all the memories I have with him will last forever. The last time I saw him was a couple days before he left to Columbia in the summer and it sucks knowing he’s gone. I know everyone he knew loved him and had such a great personality. Everyone will miss him and I really hope his family is doing okay. I wish there was something I could have done but all I wish now is that he’s in a better place. He was such a great friend of mine all these years. He’ll always have a place in my heart.
I love you Josh. You will be missed.
@Anonymous Harvard only take 4 courses per semester. At Yale, that is also an option, though some students take five. At Columbia I’ve seen students taking 22 credit hours. Six classes or more. It makes no sense.
At MIT no one is graded in the first year.
These are two obvious ways of reducing suicides on campus. The first of these would also coincidentally alleviate the perpetual problem of cramped classroom space. It boggles my mind that we don’t just change the number of credits to graduate from 124 to a straight 100. The core could be scaled back or departments could drop 1 or 2 lecture courses from the graduation requirements and no one would ever notice. It’s almost like a hazing tradition that Columbia students are so egregiously overburdened in comparison to students at our peer institutions.
@Anonymous Columbia University,
We send you one of our best and you ignore him. Listen to the others that might be suffering; do more, ask more, care more.
Sincerely
Gladstone High School
@Anonymous I don’t really have much to add to the convo but like other is the comments here I’ve also been severely depressed most of my time here and close to suicide at several points. This school is a terrible place for your well-being and I can’t imagine having to navigate it as as a qpoc
@Josh's Friend Josh was a kind and thoughtful person and he will be missed. My thoughts are with his family and friends. I would ask that if anyone knows someone who may be under a great deal of stress please reach out to them and let them know that you love them and that you genuinely care about their well-being. If you are in crisis please know that there are people willing to help you. If you need immediate help please call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255). Life is rare, beautiful, and brief and we are all that we have in this world.
Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart,
until, in our own despair,
against our will,
comes wisdom
through the awful grace of God
-RFK quoting Aeschylus, April 4, 1968.
@Deeply sorry I didn’t know Josh Villa, but from what I have read, he was a beautiful soul, and my heart cries out at our loss. I can’t imagine the unbearable sorrow of his family and friends. I don’t know why some people on this site don’t respect the moment of loss, instead lashing out without purpose. We don’t know what demons haunted Josh. Nor do I think any one should blame anyone else. All we know, and all we should remember, is that Josh was a precious human being. Despite what a few others say, we should also know that Columbia has resources to help people in need. Indeed, Columbia has unparalleled resources to support students. Based on my experience, there’s really no school anywhere that offers more resources for students who suffer from depression and other mental health illnesses. Sadly, despite the resources, some students attending Columbia (and every other college) will suffer from, and a few might even succumb to, depression. It is a sober fact. But, it isn’t the fault of any one institution, program or person. Really, it isn’t. In fact, Columbia itself has one of the lowest suicide rate among universities. Depression and mental illness, in general is too big of an issue to attribute to one place. It’s a societal issue that society at large must address. All of that, however, doesn’t console our indescribable pain when we lose one of our colleagues. That pain should be a reminder, though, to reach out to those in need. We are one community. And don’t let anyone ever think that he/she is alone. If you see someone in need among us, help out.
@Sarah Whittenburg I want to form a student advocacy group to address mental health issues at Columbia. Can anyone who is interested in helping email me at cumentalhealthgroup (at) gmail.com? I understand that we’re all in the middle of finals, but I think this is incredibly important and the energy to create change may dissipate over the break. At the very least, we should start up a listserv to organize over the break.
@jaded what happened to the student wellness project? they’ve been awfully silent today.
@F I was once at a small dorm party and once the conversation turned to school work and stress, 6 out out of the 7 other people in the room(who were a mix of mostly sophomores and juniors) said that the intensity and about of school work and the need to keep good grades had brought them at least once to consider suicide, and for two—they actually made attempts.
Although there are surely other events that can cause suicide, the stress culture here is a really big contributor to it. I don’t know what the adminstration can do about it, but there should be efforts to alliviate the stress culture without decreasing the academic standards.
@Anonymous Where is the mental health taskforce at? What is the point of all of this administration and bureaucracy if it doesn’t fucking do anything? This place is beyond repair.
@May I remind you Those are full-time students juggling work, school, sleep, and their own mental and physical well-being, not miracle workers. They’ve already done quite a bit for this school–the last thing they need, or anyone else on this campus needs, is guilt and additional pressure for not living up to destructive and absurd expectations. And it is not reasonable to expect the best mental health professionals in the world, much less a group of undergrads, to make a breakthrough that will ensure that no one ever commits suicide again in the history of mankind.
I get that you’re feeling upset right now. But blaming other students for this tragedy is completely inappropriate. Consider reaching out to someone and offering them your kindness instead.
@Anonymous I read his twitter posts. He said “There’s so much disgust in the world and its just getting really hard to deal with it all. It’s just enveloping and heavy.” and “Jesus fucking Christ. I’m done being sexualized.” I don’t know Josh or what he was feeling. But from my own experiences as a gay man and feeling along these same lines, I feel like this may have something to do w/ the oppressive environment of the gay community, widely known and never talked about. If you’re a person of color, if you’re overweight, you are of lesser value than someone who is white and muscular and guys on Grindr and Growlr and Tinder make that very clear to you. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had guys tell me “Sorry man. Not into chubs,” or just stop talking to me altogether. Or how many guys list their racial “preferences” on their profile, unaware that those preferences are euphemistic variations on racism. They’ll also say things like “no fats or fems.” And if they aren’t saying it, they’re surely thinking it. This may be hatred that has been internalized, directed inward and then projected onto his fellow gay man. This is deeply fucked up and as a community, gay men need to stop doing this shit; they need to stop objectifying themselves, stripping themselves of their humanity.
@this needed to be said thank you
@CC'14 Came back to read this article, and thankful you said this. If it were just the apps and flirting/hookup mediums that would be bad enough, but I feel this superficial aesthetic fascism is pretty much codified into the entire context of interaction. It is awful, demoralizing, and a huge mind fuck. Thank you for being bold enough to raise the issue.
@CC'14 Also, for what it’s worth, just realized he looked familiar and that we had matched and chatted on Tinder. He seemed like a nice guy.
@Anonymous There are a lot of people to feel the similarly at this school but are too cowardly to do the act. I am one of them. This place is dark for me. I have no friends and I suffer from depression, OCD, and anxiety disorder. I have a relationship of many years that is crumbling because of my mental illness, in which my significant other says I’m insane and that I need to go to a mental institution, that he can’t stand my “made up illness” anymore.
I feel terrible that Joshua died, and I wish he were alive. But I wish at the same time I would be able to muster up the courage to face death like he did, because this place is a nightmare, and honestly there is nobody here who considers me a friend who would even know who I am if I died.
@Anonymous major typo here… I meant many people who feel similarly
@Anonymous I suffered with OCD for 7 years before I was able to get medication. The moment I started taking the drugs, the symptoms disappeared. OCD is a medical condition and you need to treat it as such. I regret having suffered needlessly for all those years when a solution was right in front of me. Very frustrating. Anyway, I recommend you make an appointment with a psychiatrist. And take a semester off to sort things out. It’ll get better. You just gotta give it some time. The brain is really sensitive to stress. But there are ways to restore it back to normal. Sleep. Meditation. And, most importantly, EXERCISE. Can’t stress that enough. I’m glad you didn’t kill yourself. Because future you would be kicking your butt five years from now when you’re flying high, and all this is water under the bridge. There are such good times ahead. It would be foolish to throw that all away just because things are difficult now. Allow your brain to heal by minimizing stress. It’s what engendered the OCD in the first place. Good luck, my friend.
@Anonymous Suicide is not an act of bravery. Your SO sounds abusive and is actively hurting you. Being in a bad relationship makes mental illness so much worse, I speak from experience. If he thinks you are making it up, it is not your illness that is hurting the relationship, it is his callous lack of empathy.
When I felt like this place was too dark, I took a year off and focused on getting healthy, getting the right medication, and getting some perspective. It was the best decision I ever made. I have convinced 2 other people to do the same, and they both thanked me profusely. Please consider taking some time off. Please see a therapist and consider taking medication. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but things really can get better. I was suicidal once, and I would have never believed it I could get better. And I’m not gonna lie – the process of getting better wasn’t easy. And it isn’t magic, I still have rough times. But I am so much happier now, and so much more in control of my illness. It’s hard but you can get to a place where you will enjoy life.
:)
@alum Semester off saved my life.
@Anonymous That is absolutely not true. You are a loved and valuable part of this community and Columbia would not be the same without you.
@CC 15 I promise there are people at Columbia and elsewhere who love you. I really, really encourage you to reach out to CPS and Furman.
I know that can seem scary or intimidating though, so if you’d not up for that, please consider calling Nightline at 212-854-7777. Their peer listeners have helped many loved ones of mine through dark times.
You’re not alone. Be well <3
@Alive I miraculously surived a suicide attempt here and am very saddened by this, Ive always wondered if anyone on campus who has been through similar stuff would like to start an outreach or support group consisting of people who have been there. Not doctors or conselors or official campus stuff but a group, non official, of a few students who’ve been through bad times to be here in case anyone wants to talk or not talk but could use some support from their peers. What do you think?
@Anonymous I agree. I too felt really alone and wish I could’ve spoken to someone who understood. Feeling suffocated all the time is awful!
@Anonymous Great idea.
(I’d join in, but I’m maybe three-more-bad-days ahead of something drastic most of the time myself, which would limit my usefulness as a volunteer. I wish you the best luck possible and sincerely hope you follow through.)
@Anonymous Actually ( and sorry to double post), this would be the -perfect- thing for the Alumni to get in on.
It’s not the usual thing that active Alums do ( ie, not about sports, investment in CU, or career networking, an it doesn’t promote CU as a shiny flawless place), but I imagine there are Alums who had serious bad times and came out the other side. Hearing from them could be a godsend to some.
They probably don’t do much alum-stuff as a result, but they could make a real difference that way.
@Anonymous Alum here. One of my friends at Columbia committed suicide during his junior year. he was always smiling, and outwardly very happy. When it happened, it was a complete shock to everyone. I wish I could have helped him see things get better. That while you’re in school, it’s like your sucked into this vortex where things that would otherwise be trivial become overwhelming. You lose sight of things..
So, my advice for you folks is that it’s critical to remember Columbia is for naught if you’re not enjoying your life. That’s the most important thing. Fuck the rest. Ultimately, you do what makes you happy. And if academic stress is your cause for concern (it was for me!), have no fear: everyone will give you an interview coming from Columbia anyway. Your GPA has very very little bearing on your success in the job market. So if you’re struggling, put things into perspective. Relax. It’s just a test. It’s just a paper. It’s not more important than your life. Try to enjoy the ride and have fun with it. There’s always second chances in this world so don’t take things too seriously. Draw a smiley face or cartoon on your next final exam. Seriously. You’ll laugh about how much you thought these trials mattered years from now. Hope to see y’all on the other side.
@Svokos Another alum here. Please feel free to reach out and talk / ask for help or advice / whatever. I’m happy to help find resources for class work or point towards the right organization or administrator to talk to. Or if you just want someone to talk to, I live near Columbia and love a good excuse to get Hungarian pumpkin pie. I can’t promise I’ll know the right thing to do or say, but I’ll do what I can.
But also I’m more than happy to help communicate with professors/organizations/administrators on people’s behalf. If advisors’ main advice is to talk more to your professor [http://ramonkcastillo.kinja.com/whats-the-matter-with-columbia-university-1667626297], you can tell me and I’ll try and talk to them. It’s just pretty bs that there isn’t some system in place for advisors or CPS or someone to communicate with professors when there’s a problem.
It’s no big secret that Columbia as an institution is not the most personally supportive. I had family nearby, good friends, a great roommate, and — most importantly — health to get through the four years, and I recognize that I was lucky and privileged with all that. I know how the school works, I’m nearby, and I want to do what I can to help.
–Alexandra, asvokos[at]gmail[.]com, please feel free to reach out.
@Original Poster Yes! Students with mental illnesses need to organize. We can find inspiration in the victims of sexual assault who said to hell with the stigma. We must make demands on Columbia, it’s our community for four years, it’ll be the community of incoming students with mental illnesses in the future as well. Let’s do this. We can start by demanding that Dean Valentini read these comments to get some sense of what students are feeling on this campus right now. This is also a time for great, investigative journalism; get on it, Spectator, BWOG.
@cc16 I think this is a great idea, and I’d definitely be interested in joining. I go to CPS and my friends and boyfriend know that I struggle with depression and anxiety, but often the hardest paper is asking for help. Sometimes I just need to cry and I want to be around someone without having to explain whats going on, because I can’t even explain it to myself. I want to be able to ask for help without feeling like a burden. Too often on this campus I feel the administration’s goal is to keep us physically, rather than mentally, safe.
I’ve been in an abusive, controlling relationship and I’ve been forcibly sexually assaulted, both times on campus as a student here, and over a year later I’m only a little more comfortable to share that; I never wanted to be “that girl” whom everyone hugs but then secretly pities.
Now I’m very lucky to have the best friends I’ve ever had and to be in a an amazing, supportive relationship, but I still have rough days and it would help so much to be able to talk to people who have had similar experiences and to show others who are struggling that life really does get better.
@CC Junior Per Dean Valentini’s email, I went to the basement of the dorm where Joshua died, which had been designated as a “meeting space.” What I found were Christmas lights, six plates of holiday cookies, and hot chocolate. Not a Columbia administrator or counselor in sight.
@Anonymous Fuck.
Sorry, I can’t process how hamhanded, incomptent and just-plain wrong that is, beyond “fuck.” What the hell is wrong with them?!
@you can't be serious There are people being triggered all over campus right now and the best they can do in offering a “safe space” for everyone is to put out some cookies and hot chocolate like we’re at fucking study break?
Does this school even care??
@~carefree~ is that even a question? everything sucks right now.
@Anonymous what do you suggest they do
@Anonymous when I went to the Carman lounge, Scott was there (he’s the associate director of first year dorms). it’s a shame that no one else was there to help students.
@seas '14 i am one of the mentally ill who was so close to committing suicide during my time at columbia. my student adviser, my professors, and cps were essential in facilitating and reorganizing my academic plans (time off from school, postponing exams, setting up remake exams, etc) so i could focus on my mental health.
when i see these posts of those who didn’t make it, i feel grief gnawing at my throat. it reminds me how incredibly lucky i was that my academic team was as understanding as they were. how if they had been less so or how if i hadn’t convinced myself to try cps one more time that i’d probably be dead and buried right now.
i never knew you, but – i’m so sorry you couldn’t find the support you needed while you were suffering, joshua.
if any of you reading this feel like they need help, i urge you to speak with CPS as soon as possible. and sometimes you might have to go more than once – there are some shitty demeaning therapists on their team, but there are some absolutely amazing ones as well.
@Anonymous To emphasize one of your points, freshman year I was deeply depressed, and CPS was absolutely awful for me. I ended up having to take a year off. However, junior year, I was in a similar situation and in a fit of desperation, went back to CPS and saw someone different, and she helped immensely. I know how hard it is to try again when you have a bad experience, but please, if you feel you need help and you see someone who doesn’t work, try to see someone else.
And also, it can be so easy to feel like you are alone, and you see people who seem happy and effortlessly successful and you feel like there must be something wrong with you for not feeling the same way. But there are so many people thinking the exact same thing as you. Nobody wants to admit it or say it outloud. This place is hard, stressful, and soul crushing. You are not alone. Lean on your friends. That’s what friends are for. You aren’t being a burden or an anomaly by sharing what you feel with them, and asking for their support. I know too many friends who didn’t do this and the consequences were awful. I wish they had let me help.
@:( This is one of those times, where I wish I could turn back the clock. Where i wish I could run to Joshua and tell him people care. That we love him. That he is noticed, that he is worth living. I wish I could show him people’s statuses, peoples facebook messages, peoples devastation at his loss. But I can’t. Time cannot be turned back. So instead I urge anyone who is feeling that there is no way out to get help! To talk to someone. To call your parents, because people love you, no matter how bad things get. We need to come together as a community to support each other in this time. Let’s say hi to each other. Talk to that kid who looks sad. Complement people. Look out for warning signs.
Joshua, you will be missed by many people not only at columbia, but around the world. You were a beautiful person. Your smile was beautiful. You were kind. You cared. You wanted to make the world a better place. I wish you could have seen that.
Much love.
RIP
@Anonymous I’m so sorry for your loss.
@Anonymous I would like to draw attention to that fact that all of the community involvement they listed was for queer groups on campus. While we can’t assume that he (they…? preferred gender pronoun check someone?) was queer based on this involvement, it is important to note that queer people face mental health problems at rates disproportional to the general population. This very likely wasn’t just a “columbia is so stressful” incident.
@Anonymous My condolences to his family, they must be devastated. I also can’t help but feel really bad for whoever found him in that bathroom, probably a suite mate. I hope we all take this as a way to reflect on how to reach out to others around us.
@Anonymous This is horrible. My thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family. Whenever I get an email like this announcing a students death, I always find it deeply ironic. The dean will say how saddened he is and how he is making resources available to the community, etc. But does he mean it? Does Columbia mean it? I am a student with mental illness on this campus. Columbia’s insensitivity is *extraordinary*. What good are academic advisors and disability coordinators in the office of disability services who REFUSE to advocate for students like me who feel like shit most of the time but are trying their damn hardest to do well in classes? Instead, they tell me to go talk to my instructor. Sure, most professors are very understanding and go out of their way to help me out when I need it. But more often than you’d think, there are professors who refuse to grant extensions or make exceptions when there are acute episodes of an illness or even, and get ready for it, when a student has come out of the psych ward of the hospital, like I once did. The excuse of advisors and coordinators? We don’t mess with ‘core requirements’ of a class; we don’t feel comfortable telling a professor what to do. Instead, they insist that the student speak directly with the professor, completely ignoring the power relationship in place and how distressing it is for a student to ask a professor to rethink her position and basically enter into an antagonistic relationship where feelings will get hurt e.g. when a professor compared my ten year major depression to the flu and I responded, diplomatically of course (even though I was pissed the fuck off) that depression is nothing like the flu and she responded that *I* was speaking past *her*. That set my progress in the semester back two weeks, and that’s putting it mildly. I felt like shit; like my request for a two day extension was an “unreasonable demand that would affect the academic integrity of the class” (their actual words). If Columbia really cared about students with mental illnesses, advisors and coordinators wouldn’t throw students like me into these situations where I have no power and instead would advocate, ACTUALLY ADVOCATE, not for but with me when I needed it most. I really don’t want anyone to have the impression that I go around asking for extensions all the time; I think all students with mental illness would agree with me that is exactly what we do *not* want: to have to be the exception. But sometimes our situation demands it, sometimes the stress of midterms and finals wreak havoc on our progress and the only way for us to make it through is to have professors, advisors and administrators have some compassion towards us.
@Anonymous I think this speaks to a broader problem on campus, the fact that administrators do not care about students. Their job is to uphold the reputation of the university, that’s it. They just push papers and enforce policies without exceptions in the most impersonal way possible.
@Original Poster That’s absolutely right. I never know what the heck they’re talking about when they say my requests for a two day extension or to submit a paper the first week of June upsets the academic integrity of the college. I’m not asking the professor to go easy on me in grading; all I’m asking is for a little more time to get myself together so I can finish the class successfully. Instead, I have to take medical leaves of absence when there’s just one professor who won’t accommodate me. I don’t get to graduate with my friends. I come back to a campus where I know far less people and feel more like an outsider, where I have to fight for housing, where I have to worry about whether or not financial aid will cover my semester, not things you want in someone that has a history of suicidal ideation. There’s an unwillingness on the part of academic advisors to take on those unbudging professors, to educate professors that have an impoverished conceptual understanding of mental illness on the role stress plays in exacerbating the symptoms of depression, to insist that they need to ease up for the well being of the student. Columbia treats professors like all-knowing Gods, a designation most professors would reject.
@Depression I can speak to similar struggles with the administration during my own darkest time. Last semester I was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety that manifests itself with extreme fatigue and an accompanying lack of motivation. This condition went undiagnosed until the spring semester of my junior year largely because of mono during my freshman year and several actal or perceived illnesses that were often times caused or accompanied by depression and anxiety related symptoms that I did not recognize because it did not fit in my limited and ignorant definition of depression–perhaps my pride kept me from realizing the extent of my struggles or maybe i just wanted so badly not to have a likely permanent, life altering condition that I shut out all thoughts leading to mental illness as a cause even when prompted by health services to go talk to someone. My delayed response led me to a 10 day period where I could not get out of bed. Without realizing it, I had missed an entire week of classes and struggled to get a few key assignments in. I had probably a max of 2 functional hours a day during that time, not enough to do much more than shower and eat one meal.
Needless to say, I had to quite an academic issue on my hands because even before this time I had been falling behind for the first half of the semester and did poorly on all of my midterms. I had two professors who told me they had no problem helping me finish the class after the semester, personally helping with questions on the assignments I would make up and personally proctoring the final over the summer.
It wasn’t until finals week that I found out from my dean that the professors were actually not allowed to make that promise. On the same day as one of those finals I met with the head advising Dean and was told my condition was not severe enough to warrant a make up a final. I guess you have to be completely prepared to take the final, not having missed any class material, and basically end up hospitalized or forced to leave for a loved ones death while you are walking to the classroom to take the exam in order to be considered for a delayed exam.
I dropped both classes on the spot, and then I was informed that if I didn’t take and complete an additional class each of my final two semesters I would not be able to graduate. Having completed less than 12 credits, I was on academic probation. If I don’t finish all six classes this semester, I will be suspended or dismissed–as a result for a poor semester taking an aggregious course load all while still constantly evaluating and adjusting my mental illness medication.
So, Columbia, why don’t you put your policies where your mouth is? You were quick to release a statement by Dr. Levine that the football coaches had no say in requiring the participation of athletes with concussions or other injuries, so why is it that with an army of medical health professionals over at CPS you are still letting bureaucracts make policies and decisions regarding the fair treatment of mental health patients?
Let’s just say that when I, or someone in a similar position, ends up booted for a treatable mental illness condition with a simple lack of reasonable accommodation on your part… Sounds like something someone in that building over on 116th and Amsterdam might be interested in.
Oh yeah, and that’s why I won’t be giving on Senior Giving day or whatever.
@Columbia parent My sincere heartfelt condolences. As a college community we must remind our students to help their fellow students and seek help if someone is suffering or distraught. I am saddened beyond belief.
@anon Awful. How does one make sense of this? It seems like he was very involved on campus. Is there anyone here who knew him who can share a few personal words about him?
@Anonymous Maybe instead of “after the jump” bwog could say “click the link” when the article is about suicide.
@Mason Amelotte Thank you for pointing that out! Changes have been made.
@Anonymous That link still says Deantini.
@Anonymous empty cache
@Symptom of a Problem We really need to evaluate the mental health on Columbia’s campus given that this is practically a semesterly event always around midterms and finals which, in the grand scheme of things, are not actually that important
@Agreed I hate that GPAs are the currency of self-esteem.
GPAs dont matta in the grand scheme of lyfe
@SEAS if there weren’t a bullshit curve and grade deflation, a lot of stress would be alleviated. Many policies at this school set you up to fail:
1. Forcing students to take 3 finals in 24 hours (the calendar day thing is bullshit) and making some finals 10 minutes apart.
2. Grade deflation – caps on number of A-range grades of 25%-35%.
3. Virtually every class having exams (what about final projects?/papers?/etc…)
4. Curving undergrads the same as graduate students in graduate classes when graduate students clearly take fewer classes covering what they’ve already taken and are less involved.
5. Encouraging people to take 6 classes or more because of the 4 year rule.
6. Forcing every exception request to go through multiple departments/bureaucratic steps, and then rarely granting them.
7. Encouraging unrest/ discord.
8. A general attitude of apathy/unfriendliness that is pervasive at all levels from the Ferris pasta ladies to student advising to the President’s office.
It’s a toxic place and is never going to get fixed.
@Anonymous I agree with you but a lot of those are SEAS-specific complaints.
Columbia College has lots of grade inflation, but SEAS doesn’t.
@SEAS '15 It may be SEAS specific, but it’s still true. The mental health dialogue at this school shouldn’t just be isolated to CC. We are also a large part of the community.
@Anonymous No listen, I totally agree with you (not sure why I got so many downvotes.) I think, if anything, SEAS is more stressful for the reasons you listed and should be included in the convo.
@SEAS 9. CCE sucks at helping students find jobs in a variety fields/locations.
And if you complain, they send you home for a year.
@Anonymous Suicide rate of young adults (15-24) was about 1 in 10,000 per year. I may be wrong but I don’t think we’re much higher than that on average.
@source https://www.afsp.org/understanding-suicide/facts-and-figures
@SEAS '15 That doesn’t really change the fact that it’s a tragic thing that we should look into the sources of. In fact, this shows how everyone everywhere should be more aware of the mental health of the young adults in their lives.
@Anonymous Sure. I’m just saying this isn’t a school crisis that we need to investigate immediately and that is threatening to decimate the student body. It’s tragic, we should be sad, we should reflect, we should even push policies mean to avoid these things. But ultimately, this is a part of our society.
@Anonymous Is this really the right context to say “Deantini”?
@Courtney Couillard We agree. We’ve made the change to the post.
@who cares? The man’s a piece of shit smug bastard anyway.
@Not the point. There’s a time and a place for wacky nicknames, this isn’t it.
Good for Bwog for realizing that.
@Henry Krinkle Well, they realized it after someone told them it was probably inappropriate.
@Anonymous True, no argument. But they didn’t double-down on it or try to justify it. Can’t honestly say that about everyone. (The Post, for instance, will do both if they don’t just ignore or insult people taking issue with their coverage.)
@prayers http://nypost.com/2014/12/05/columbia-student-found-dead-in-dorm-with-bag-over-head/
@Anonymous that’s fucking awful. Screw the NYP for cutting down something so terrible into the lurid details without a compassionate voice.
@Anonymous nyp is trash
@Anonymous Who can I complain to? That article is so fucking disrespectful, it needs to come down…
@Anonymous I feel the same, but that’s the way the Post works. That’s what they do.
You’d have an easier time getting KFC to lay off the chickens.
@Anonymous but is it worse than our administration trying to cover up suicides out of fear of bad PR?
@FYI These emails have NEVER mentioned the word “suicide,” for the same reason media articles never say it in the headline or the lede—it’s triggering. It’s not a PR issue. Not to mention it hasn’t been confirmed by a coroner, it’s the family’s right to disseminate that info, etc.
@anon how did he die?
@Anonymous I honestly didn’t want to be the first one to ask, but I, too, wonder. Given the little information in the email, it appears that the likely circumstances are limited to two major categories (Think. What goes on in the dorm rooms and minds of people experiencing their first year at college? It’s a stressful time, a free time)… Anyway, this emphasizes the need for continued awareness and attentiveness of/to our fellow members of the Columbia community.
@Anonymous suicide: they’re going to keep happening if the environment at this place continues to be this shitty.
@Anonymous I agree. I’m a first year and I fell into a very dark place. Counseling services helped a little, but it’s been rough. I feel so bad Joshua, but this place really needs to lighten up and realize that we’re not machines here to learn and it’s hard being away from the people you love and your support group. There are other things in life besides 15 credits and countless hours of homework that require countless hours of solitary confinement.
@CC An unfortunately perfect example of the point you’re making: when I read “15 credits” I scoffed.
@Anonamoose This is so true. Needs a box.
@Anonymous It’s also up to us to make this place less shitty, though – at the end of the day, our peers and our own expectations probably have a greater impact on our experiences than a few random administrators do.
@Anonymous Our culture it’s eats own in order to support the already established hierarchy. It’s sick but it’s true. The reason this culture is so strong at Columbia, I believe is because it’s in the institutions roots. Stay strong
@Anonymous eats its own*