In the hours after the tragic death of student Michelle Evans in a bus accident March 16, many students on campus needed support in coping with their grief and shock. In addition to Evans' housemates and friends, there were traumatized students who had witnessed the accident and others who may not have known her personally but who felt deep sorrow at the loss of a classmate.
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| Tanni Hall, in the light jacket, front, associate dean for new student programs and student support, coordinates Cornell's crisis managers, who offer support for students in times of crisis. The team consists of, front right, Catherine Holmes, associate dean of students for student activities; second row, from left, Suzy Nelson, associate dean of students for Greek life; Ann Shumate, associate director of Campus Life; Janet Shortall, associate director of Cornell United Religious Work; Victoria Blodgett, assistant director of graduate student life; and Elizabeth Primavera, assistant dean of students; top row, from left, crisis manager Brendan O'Brien, director of the Office of International Students and Scholars, and John L. Ford, dean of students, whose office supports the program. Robert Barker/University Photography |
Responding immediately after the accident to provide support to students and the Evans family was Tanni Hall, associate dean of students and a trained crisis manager. After a quick assessment of students' needs -- students who were in many different units and areas of the university -- she drew together teams of campus professionals to provide community support.
"When there is a student crisis, this support structure emerges," said Hall, who coordinates the crisis managers and community support program. "A crisis manager is like the conductor of an orchestra, able to initiate a whole system of communications and support that goes to the student involved as well as others affected by the crisis."
The effort is very student-centered, Hall said, and responsive rather than directive. "We don't swoop in and take over," she explained. "Our first contact with a student in crisis is just one person, who always acts with great respect for the confidentiality of the student. We connect with them and their families, when appropriate, and find out what's needed."
A team of nine university staff members from the Dean of Students Office, International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO), Cornell United Religious Work (CURW), Graduate Student Life and Campus Life rotate being on call as crisis managers, so that there is one available every day, around the clock. Another, larger group of about 20 professional staff are members of a network that the crisis manager can contact to serve on small teams to lead community support meetings. The crisis management program is supported by the offices of Vice President for Student and Academic Services Susan Murphy and Dean of Students John Ford. A crisis manager can be contacted through the Cornell Police at 255-1111.
While incidents like the death of a student can be very public, the crisis managers often work behind-the-scenes, unnoticed by the larger campus community. If students are hospitalized for any reason, the crisis manager can help them notify their residence hall and professors and help with family contacts. If a student receives word at Cornell that a family member or other loved one back home has died, the crisis manager can help make travel arrangements and necessary notifications. Sometimes a student decides to leave the university for personal reasons; the crisis manager can let professors and friends know that the student has left but is OK, while keeping sensitive information confidential.
The crisis support system went into full gear after a fire in a Collegetown apartment house in 1998 left 54 students homeless with most of their possessions destroyed. Hall, who was the crisis manager on call that night, was in immediate contact with the building manager and the American Red Cross to make sure all the students had a place to stay. She also helped get information to and from parents.
But after the immediate aid was given, the students who had been burned out of their apartments still needed lots of support in handling stress and loss. The same is true for students who are dealing with the death of classmates or family members, or traumatic events like an attempted suicide by another student.
"We worked for years in crisis management to designate key contact people and offices," Hall said. "One of our biggest unmet needs was to have an identified group to go out after a trauma and provide support to different student groups. We weren't trying to provide therapy -- there are other units on campus that do that -- but to give assistance at an immediate moment in time and to fill the different needs of different groups."
The idea of the community support teams came together about two years ago after discussions among Philip W. Meilman, director of counseling and psychological services at Gannett: University Health Services and other campus professionals, Hall said.
"To build the network for the community support teams, we called on people who represent the diverse campus community and who have some student support within the scope of their jobs," Hall said. "When a call comes in, we identify the needs and who is connected to the student. We find people most connected to that community to respond."
Community support meetings were held immediately after Michelle Evans' death, which occurred the day before spring break was to begin.
Janet Shortall, associate director of CURW, who serves on community support teams, said having the meetings immediately was critical in helping students make "informed decisions" about their previous travel plans and in helping her maintain contact with Evans' housemates over the break.
"So often in the wake of a crisis as tragic as this one, those most touched by the loss are faced with immediate conflicting demands -- having to mediate pressures of classes and other commitments while contending with unimagined feelings of shock and loss," Shortall said. "As much as possible, as persons concerned for their well-being, we offer assistance to support them in ways that enable students to sort out what is most essential to deal with first in the wake of the crisis."
Students can be severely affected by events that happen off campus, as well, Hall pointed out. Community support sessions were held here after the death of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming, who was killed because he was gay. "Members of the gay, lesbian and bisexual community were deeply affected by that event," Hall said. "They needed a venue to come together and talk about what it meant to them."
Laura Lewis, in the Office of Student Services in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), is another member of the network. She played an active support role in the wake of the deaths of two ILR students within nine days of each other in November 1998. One of the deaths was by suicide; the other was an accidental fall into a gorge in which alcohol was determined to be a factor.
"We work at moving people through the very initial stages of their own personal response to the tragedy," she explained. "We can normalize, or let people know that what they're experiencing is within the normal range of reactions to a tragedy, so they don't worry or wonder whether they're safe. It's the beginning of the grieving process."
Lewis said there is a reason a coordinated response by trained professionals is crucial in helping a community deal with tragedy: "In our culture, we don't talk very much about death. For different individuals, it raises all kinds of very difficult spiritual and religious questions."
In the aftermath of the student deaths, Lewis said, other students, particularly those in ILR, "just needed a place to come together and cry and feel safe, as opposed to being alone." Community support sessions "give students a place and a supportive community setting to share their grief."
An important aspect of the community support sessions is their informality.
"Students need to grieve but don't necessarily need formalized counseling in response to a loss," Meilman explained. "Students can benefit significantly by coming together as a community to walk thorough the grieving process. As students begin to talk with each other about their reactions to a tragedy, they find mutual support and discover that others are having similar reactions. At these times of loss, they may also begin to clarify what is meaningful to them in life -- what is important and what is less so. And by talking together they sometimes discover that the person who died left them a great deal by serving as a role model or by leaving experiences behind that serve as gifts to their friends who now grieve."
Cornell's organized effort at dealing with the immediate aftermath of a student crisis is probably unique, Meilman said, and is reflective of the "tremendous volunteerism" of university staff who have signed on to offer these services. "The community support program is one of the best things we do. It is a great model of collaboration among professionals in different departments. Also, by helping students come to grips with their emotional needs at times of crisis, we are enabling them to gain support, to grow and to move through the grieving process. This enables them to return to their focus on academics more quickly than might otherwise be the case. The program thus helps students and simultaneously supports the academic mission of the university."
Having a cross section of campus professionals is important, Lewis said, because it provides "bridges" that allow "ongoing relationship building across campus so that we are able to respond quickly and can draw in the people who can respond to the affected communities most effectively."
She added, "I feel very grateful to be involved in this effort. I think the university is very genuine in its caring and concern for all community members."
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