Faculty, students and members of the College community gathered last night to discuss the recent spate of undergraduate suicides at Dartmouth and the general feeling of sadness pervading the College community.
"I sense a kind of sadness and weariness among students," Dean of the College Lee Pelton said. "It is a kind of sadness that is inevitable."
About 30 people -- but only nine students -- attended the forum held in the Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences to discuss how survivors of suicide can cope with grief and ways to promote students' awareness of the College's suicide prevention resources.
The forum was held in response to the three suicides which have shaken the Dartmouth community in the past four months. Since July, Sara Devens '96, Marcus Rice '94 and Philip Deloria '96 committed suicide. In October 1993, Dan Boyer '94 took his own life at a gun store in Lebanon.
The focus of the forum was a discussion between the audience and members of a panel including Director of Counseling Jeffrey Hersh, Medical Director of Counseling Mark Reed and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Past President of the American Association of Suicidology Charlotte Sanborn.
Dean of the Class of 1998 Lisa Thum, Associate Director of Athletics Jo Ann Harper, Director of the Native American Program Michael Hanitchak and Student Assembly President Jim Rich '96 also participated on the panel.
Both the audience and panel said the suicides have had a tremendous impact upon the entire campus. Reed said he also sensed sadness among the College's staff and administration.
Many of the participants said they were not only sad, but they also felt powerless to prevent the suicides.
"How can we help feeling powerless, like there is nothing we can do?" Sanborn asked.
Hersh said no matter what measures the College takes to prevent suicide, "there will always be more we can do."
"We should talk with one another and get to know more people," he said. "We can reach out to one another, and that's a lot."
Both the speakers and the students at the panel said students are largely unaware of the suicide prevention resources the College offers and that steps must be taken to increase accessibility to and better publicize these resources.
Reed said students can talk to deans, advisors of different affinity groups, Safety and Security officers and counselors at Headrest, a 24-hour suicide hot line which is not affiliated with the College.
The counseling services provided by the College are free and confidential. Other resources for grieving people include College chaplains and Hospice of the Upper-Valley, which offers bereavement support.
Hersh, who moderated the discussion, said other colleges were also experiencing problems with suicides.
According to Hersh, Kansas State University experienced seven suicides last year and this fall, at the University of New Hampshire a student was found hanging from a tree after he had been missing for a day.
Hersh said he has spoken with students about how to better publicize suicide prevention resources available to them.
According to Hersh, students would like Counseling and Human Development to intensify suicide training for undergraduate advisors and area coordinators and to provide more programs dealing with stress and alienation.
Sanborn, who has studied suicide for thirty years, spoke about coping with grief. "In dealing with grief, we need to validate and normalize conflicting emotions," she said.
Survivors need to remember they are not responsible for an individual's decision to take their life, she said. Sanborn also said almost everyone has considered suicide at one point, but thinking of suicide does not mean acting on it.
Sanborn said the best way to deal with a suicide is "to do what you would do at any death, but not to go beyond that."
She said permanent memorials, yearbooks or sporting events should not be dedicated to the deceased because it may serve as an invitation to people who want attention to commit suicide.
Sanborn said efforts should be focused on the living. "We must learn to grieve and to get on with our lives," she said. "It is not easy, but it is doable."
