WORCESTER, Mass. — On Monday, Boston 25 News started getting emails asking us to look into a number of student deaths by suicide at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. School officials confirm that four students have died since July.
After each student’s death, WPI sent letters to the student body to re-emphasize the available support. Students are expected to gather wearing all black Thursday to draw attention to the mental health needs on campus and to mourn the four students who lost their lives.
The school says the president will be in attendance to listen and figure out what else needs to be done for the students to feel supported in addition to the extra counseling staff hired.
At this point, school officials say they can confirm two of the deaths are suicides, the other two deaths remain under investigation.
If you or someone you know needs help or has suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
Right now signs like ‘We miss you,’ ‘You are loved,’ & ‘You matter’ are sprinkled around the campus surrounded by flowers.
“They were all great students, great aspects of the entire community and we all want to say they will be dearly missed and always loved within the WPI community,” said classmate Syreneti DeLaCruz. “We are not going to stop fighting for them and all the other students in our community as well. We just want all the students to know and all the family members that all the support for them is endless.”
Students who knew those that died as well as the administration at this private research university are now all struggling to figure out why this is happening and how to stop it.
“I have a vigil or collective mourning to go to after this where student leaders are coming together just to process this as a unit,” said WPI student Matt Maloney. “It is encouraging to see students come together during these times, but when it happens this many times most of the question is what do we do? What else can we do?”
These deaths hit this community especially hard because this is a smaller more tight-knit community with fewer than 5,000 students.
“Being a smaller school, there’s a lot of social circles that are interconnected, so when something tragic happens like this there’s a lot of ripples across the campus,” Maloney said. “A lot of people are affected and the [dovetail] of that is there is so much support because of it. We can come together collectively to mourn to support one another.”
In a note to students Wednesday, President Laurie A. Leshin said the school wants to do just that. She listed some of the concrete steps the school is now taking to support student health and well-being:
- “First, and most immediately, we will host drop-in grief support counselors to help those affected by our recent losses. Any member of our community can stop by the Rubin Campus Center main lobby all afternoon Thursday and/or Friday (November 4 and 5).
- “We have hired one and are recruiting an additional full-time counselor in the Student Development and Counseling Center staff as well as additional per diem staffing as needed to support our students. Currently, wait times for an intake appointment are 1–3 days at the most.
- “We are finalizing a contract for a 24/7 phone line to provide direct after-hours phone access to crisis counselors. We expect to launch this by C-Term/Spring Semester. Currently, our WPI Campus Police officers thoughtfully manage after-hours calls; they will remain available for medical and other emergencies.
- “On Thursday, the Morgan Center for Teaching and Learning will sponsor a workshop for faculty on ways to incorporate wellness strategies into their course curriculum. Information is here.
- “A special faculty meeting held September 30 provided significant insight into important points of stress felt by both faculty and students in classrooms and labs; these insights will be incorporated into short- and long-term academic resources.
- “We are actively recruiting a director and other staff for the new Center for Well-Being at WPI, to launch this year. Positions are posted and hiring is in process.
- “We have launched a new resources web page compiling links to the numerous offices and programs available to students and employees.
- “We are conducting an independent review of our approach to student mental health and well-being as part of our constant and continuing effort to ensure we are following best practices. We will share recommendations from the review with the community and use them to guide additional actions.
- “We have expanded training programs for students, faculty, and staff to provide the tools needed to support one another. Thus far, we have hosted a number of Recognizing and Responding to Student Distress (RRSD) training sessions as well as Student Support Network (SSN) sessions for faculty, staff, and students, including two open RRSD sessions provided during Be Well Together Day.”
If you or anyone you know is contemplating suicide, or if you are concerned for someone else, here are some helpful resources:
[ National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (24 hours) ]
Call 1-800-273-8255
[ Online chat ]
[ Suicide prevention resources for parents, guardians and families ]
[ Suicide prevention resources for teens ]
[ Suicide prevention resources for survivors of suicide loss ]
[ More resources and programs at the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. ]
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