In November, two students, Ethan Gallagher and Elsie MacGregor, wrote an article for The Times, reflecting on the successes and failures of their university support systems.
Sadly, I was not surprised to read Ethan’s account of the support (or lack of) he received when his Dad died:
“I received a response, a robotic ‘sorry for your loss’-type email with some links attached in case I should ‘benefit from additional welfare support’. They were the same links I’d found myself by googling.
Grieving, in shock, barely functioning doing day-to-day tasks, I was in no frame of mind to wade through the bureaucracy or research my own welfare options.
Those links would direct you to endless forms, which you would have to fill out if you wanted access to help. It’s possible that buried within these forms there was a mention of a specific person I could talk to […] but this was only a few days after my Dad had passed away.
Grieving, in shock, barely functioning doing day-to-day tasks, I was in no frame of mind to wade through the bureaucracy or research my own welfare options.
I needed someone to understand what I was going through and set that help up for me. Telling me in clear terms that there was a real person I could talk to at a specific time if I so wished was all I wanted.”
This is just one example of how university welfare systems are failing bereaved students in times they most need support.
At The Student Grief Network, we are pushing for well informed, compassionate and hands-on practices within universities so that students feel understood and cared for, not just another number in the system.
You can read the full article here: Mental health at university: a tale of two students | The Times