Webdesk: After a student committed suicide on Wednesday, another North Carolina State University student committed suicide on Thursday, NBC News reported.
The University spokesperson Lauren Barker said that on Wednesday, police found the body of a student who had messaged someone about committing suicide.
Lake Raleigh’s woods yielded the body.
Another campus student died Thursday afternoon.
The spokesperson said, “Since we spoke, another student found dead by apparent suicide on campus today.”
Since August, 14 North Carolina State students have died, Baker says.
Chancellor Randy Woodson told students Thursday that events were “heartbreaking.”
“Please take extra care of yourselves, watch out for each other, and be on the lookout for those around you who might need help,” he wrote. Don’t hesitate to help a friend, and don’t feel ashamed if you’re struggling.
Free Tele therapy for students
He advised students to use the university’s counselling centre and free teletherapy service.
He added, “No matter what you’re going through, know that you are not alone; your NC State family cares about you, and we are here to support you.”
Lilly Wallace, a senior studying for finals, said the losses have made campus uneasy.
“It’s pretty overwhelming,” Wallace said of the first death. “This seems almost constant now.”
Wallace said of the second death, “It’s hard to put into words just how devastating this is.”
Last October, Wallace petitioned the university to offer mental health wellness days during the academic year to give students a break from schoolwork.
Wallace said, ‘The school says we have all these mental health resources for students to use, but if you don’t have actual time off to breathe and check in with yourself and say, ‘I might need help, I’m struggling a lot more than I realised I was,’ you might not ever use those resources.’
The 4,800-signature petition proposed banning professors from assigning work during school breaks.
“Some professors will still assign assignments over those breaks, or we’ll have quizzes or tests after,” she said.
The student mental health task force reported that the university started scheduling student wellness days.
The task force noted that North Carolina State, with more than 36,000 undergraduate and graduate students, had an unusually high number of suicides this year before the deaths in the last 24 hours. Three students commit suicide annually.
After a fifth student died last month, the vice chancellor and dean of academic and student affairs, Doneka Scott, said North Carolina State was implementing task force recommendations, including working with The Jed Foundation, a nonprofit that helps schools improve mental health support.
Scott added: The university has greatly expanded its counselling centre and mental health staff in recent years.
The national survey last month found college students at record highs for depression, anxiety, and suicidality.
Scott thinks the pandemic, US social and political divisions have caused college students’ distress.
