University president calls student suicide an epidemic

When you send your kid off to college, it’s a time filled with hope and promise. The last thing you think about is the possibility they may not return alive.

But the harsh reality is, suicide is the second leading cause of death among college-age kids, and yet so many people still don’t want to talk about it.

It’s been a tough year emotionally for students and staff at Western Washington University.

Timothy Crossan’s suicide in April was the second one involving a student at Western this year.

Health experts say in any given year, more than 1,100 college students across the country will take their own lives.

But instead of being silent about the issue that so many still think of as taboo, Western Washington University’s President Bruce Shepard is speaking out.

“Suicide is really an epidemic among college-age people,” says Shepard.

For him, it’s a mission that’s very close to his heart.

“This is something I feel very personally about having gotten that phone call that any parent would dread late at night from a college when I heard that my son had taken his own life,” says Shepard.

The unthinkable happened six years ago. His son, Abe, was a graduate student at Oregon State University. And like so many parents on the receiving end of those horrific phone calls, Shepard and his wife had no idea their son was struggling.

“All his friends said he was the social center of the department. His apartment is where everybody went on a Friday night. It’s one of those things though where I believe the power of our brains are such that he could just shut this ailment off from his existence. He didn’t recognize it. He didn’t go seek help,” says Shepard.

As painful as it was, and continues to be, Shepard says he’s doing everything in his power to encourage people not to be silent about suicide and mental illness.

“I took a vow then to never not talk about my son or about suicide. Because in my view part of what makes depression the killer that it is, is that we stigmatize talking about those dealing with mental distress or illness or depression,” says Shepard.

After the first student’s death this year, Shepard took the unusual step of sending out a campus-wide e-mail, letting students know where they can get help, and talking about the need to be more open about suicide.

He also shared his personal story. The response was overwhelming.

“I got hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of emails back, all very personal talking about a family friend, talking about themselves, and attempts they had made on their own life, talking about battles with depression,” says Shepard.

The American College Health Association says the suicide rate among young adults, ages 15 to 24, has tripled since the 1950s. With kids away from home and friends for the first time, experts say going to college is a big transition that can trigger or exacerbate existing problems.

Shepard is convinced that breaking the stigma surrounding the topic of suicide will make a difference.

“It isn’t something you get over. It changes your life, just as having a child changes your life, losing a child changes your life, and that’s the case with the campus, losing a friend, a classmate changes who we are, but we have the power to decide what that change is going to be, to direct it in positive ways,” says Shepard.

Timothy Crossan’s family set up a memorial fund in his honor, to support counseling services at Western.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call 1-800-273-TALK.