As you may well know, NYU has had two recent suicides.  And one might expect that the NYU community would be more outspoken on these events.  But surprisingly, everyone seems to be on lockdown. 

As a journalism student here, I have been reporting on the mental wellness of our students in hopes to educate and bring awareness to some of the ways the university is adjusting.  In my reporting, I have made it clear that the details of the suicide are not my focus, but rather the causes of depression and prevention methods.  One would expect that the administration would cooperate with my requests to cover such a topic, but I have met quite the opposite.  My experience has been very discouraging. 

The campus Wellness Center, a place of refuge and counseling for at risk students, has refused to answer basic questions.  In fact, they have sent me a less than nice email basically telling me to “leave them alone.”  (And by the way, I just want to add that in order to even get real counseling here and not just three quick sessions, you have to pay on top of the more than $40,000 it costs to even enroll as a student here. But that’s another story).
            In response to the suicides, NYU has taken some precautionary measures.  They have placed security guards on the roofs of the dorms.  When I asked to speak to a guard about this, they refused.

I do understand the sensitive nature of these events, and yes, the details should remain private out of respect for the families.  But a dialogue needs to be created around the greater issue.  Students are not dealing appropriately with the pressures of being students here.  And while some efforts are made to foster campus unity and high quality of living, there is still something missing. 

And yes, most students go through NYU and have a blast, but it’s important to create an environment that can properly cultivate more student needs.  Here’s an interesting statistic: NYU is among the top dream schools, on average, yet it’s ranked as having one of the highest transfer out rates of students.  Why?  Well, these are questions that need to be answered but won’t be as long as the school refuses to speak with diligent students, such as myself.  As you can see, I am a little frustrated, but so goes the life of a journalist.  To be continued…