- Posted in All University
- Category: Campus News
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. – Lincoln University held various activities during Suicide Prevention Month in September to promote worldwide action to prevent suicides and to raise awareness that suicide is a major preventable cause of premature death.
According to Psychology Today, there are more than 1,000 suicides on college campuses per year. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among people aged 25 to 34 and the third-leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 24.
Students, including leaders from the Student Government Association, complete the QPR training to help learn the steps to save a life from suicide in September 2017.
On September 12, Counseling Services kicked off the month of activities with a backpack project on the Thurgood Marshall Living Learning Center Lawn — commonly called the U — to promote suicide awareness and prevention. Each backpack spread across the lawn symbolized a student who has died as a result of a completed suicide. Staff from the Counseling Center were on hand to talk about suicide prevention.
Throughout the month, Counseling Services trained a total of 180 students in QPR, which stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer — three simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. Each student who completed QPR training in September is equipped to ask a person if they are suicidal, persuade them to get help and refer them to the appropriate resources. The class teaches students how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help.
On September 12, Counseling Services sponsored the backpack project on the Thurgood Marshall Living Learning Center Lawn — commonly called the U — to promote suicide awareness and prevention. Each backpack symbolized a student who has died as a result of a completed suicide. Staff from the Counseling Center were on hand to talk about suicide prevention.
Those trained in QPR included 40 resident advisors and students from several health science and First Year Experience classes. Gionelly Mills, the president of the Student Government Association, organized a QPR training for SGA board members, and said, “learning the skills to save a life is important to the Lincoln community and everyone should be trained.”
Members of the organization Back to Life sponsored a forum with a panelist who spoke on suicide prevention. Jarrett Brown, president of the organization, said that “people avoid talking about suicide openly and there is this idea that it does not happen to college students.” The forum’s goal was for participants to learn that suicide happens more than they think and how students could be active participants in saving a life by taking QPR training. Information was provided on resources available to students on campus as well as where students could get help such as the Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
For information on training for suicide prevention or to set up training for a student organization or class, contact Counseling Services at 484-365-7244 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Counseling Services is located in the Wellness Center, Room 221.