Credit: Provided

A Cornell organization that supported students and their loved ones during the spring semester has won an award for its efforts.

The Cornell University Student Crisis Management Team was given Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service's (SPCS) 2010 Jack Lewis Award for Exemplary Service to Community Members in Crisis, in appreciation for their dedicated and sensitive work after the death of several students.

The SPCS presented the award Nov. 20 as part of its annual meeting and observance of Survivors of Suicide Day.

Alice Green, a seven-year member of the crisis management team, accepted the award on behalf of the organization.

The team is made up of nine Cornell staff members who, in addition to their regular responsibilities, work with students and their family members during such serious crises as a house fire, accident or sudden loss. They share on-call duties 24 hours a day to help students deal with an unexpected loss or severe illness and to assist family members when a student has died. They identify and facilitate campus resources available for students and their family members, assist with travel and accommodations and organize support groups for students who have lost friends under traumatic conditions.

The team members are:

• John DeRosa, assistant dean for student and career services, Cornell Law School;
• Alice Green, assistant dean of students and director of EARS (Empathy, Assistance and Referral Service);
• Tanni Hall, associate dean of students;
• Catherine Holmes, associate dean of students for student activities;
• Laura Lewis, the Frank B. Miller Director of Student Services, ILR School;
• Julie Paige, assistant director, Residential Programs;
• Sonia Rucker, associate director in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Johnson Graduate School of Management;
• Janet Shortall, associate director, Cornell United Religious Work; and
• Denise Zajac, program coordinator, Office of the Dean of Students.

"Members of the team offer their skills, compassion, time and energy on a round-the-clock, on-call basis to any student. They act as helpers, counselors, advocates, information and referral specialists -- whatever roles they need to play -- to help people during a time of great loss," said Micaela Corazón, director of Crisisline, the SPCS's free 24-hour crisis counseling service.

The award is named for SPCS co-founder Rev. Jack Lewis, who served as director of Cornell United Religious Work from 1965 to 1981. Lewis helped to create Crisisline in 1969 as a response to a campus suicide.

"Crisisline volunteers and members of the Cornell University Student Crisis Management Team are cut from the same cloth. They show up at any hour of the day or night, they pay attention, and they care. In a way, the Jack Lewis Award has gone home to the Cornell campus where Reverend Jack started it all," Corazón said.