Stanford to Expand Mental Health Services Following Soccer Star's Suicide

PALO ALTO (KPIX) -- Stanford University is pledging to hire more counselors and therapists, following the suicide death of a student athlete last week.

In a Facebook post, the university said the past few weeks have been "heartbreaking."

That post drew attention to soccer star Katie Meyer, who died by suicide on March 1; to Jacob Meisel and Rose Wong who also died by suicide last year; and to Dylan Simmons, who was found dead at his campus residence in January.

"All were accomplished, loving students we will always remember," the university said. "We want to acknowledge that these tragedies, against the backdrop of the pandemic and the outbreak of war in Ukraine can feel especially overwhelming and unbearable. For all in our community who are suffering, know that whatever feelings are arising in you are normal and need time to be felt."

Stanford has begun recruiting for counselors and therapists at its "Counseling and Psychological Services" (CAPS). Some of the new counselors and therapists will be devoted solely to the athletics department.

Sophomore Maya Harvey, a beach volleyball player, said student athletes often need additional support.

"Being an athlete can take a real physical toll, not only your body but also your mind," Harvey said. "All my friends, I can turn to anybody on staff and faculty. I just sat down with a professor the other day and they helped me out in a really big way. Everybody's in this together right now."

Avi Vetter, who also plays beach volleyball, said it's important to be able to get help quickly, without any repercussions.

"We're balancing a lot and there's a lot of stress coming from a lot of different directions," said Vetter. "As long as the athletes and the students feel like they can easily access those resources and it's not in any sort of way going to impact them negatively, like in their sports or academics, then I think it's a great idea."

Stanford released a statement:

Like other colleges and universities across the country, Stanford has seen a sharp increase in demand for mental health counseling and other well-being resources over the last two years. Mental health remains not only an ongoing challenge but our most urgent priority.

The increase in mental distress has been exacerbated by the challenges of the pandemic. We have responded by expanding resources available to all students and specific student communities including varsity athletes, students across all gender and sexual identities, students in various ethnic, racial and religious communities and students of specific disciplines such as medicine and law.

Over the last two years we have increased our clinical staff by 20% to reduce wait times and started a wellness-coaching program with a non-clinical support service for graduate and undergraduate students. Last week, we announced funding for additional permanent clinical counseling and therapy positions for CAPS and the athletics department. Our student affairs office is also convening experts to consider other measures that would be helpful beyond clinical support.

While we have many resources available to students, last year we also launched a rigorous communications campaign to make this information widely available to students, faculty, staff and families via university newsletters, social media and in-person informational events.

Stanford students who need help can call (650) 723-3785, anytime, day or night