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Content warning: The following analysis references student death and suicide.
Good Morning!
Towards the end of December, the Mercer County Prosecutor's office released the cause of death of Misrach Ewunetie '24, ruling it a suicide. In the aftermath of the ruling, campus groups reflected on the University's mental health resources, with some groups pushing for more targeted resources. Undergraduate Student Government officers highlighted progress from the mental health report released in September 2022, recommending 24/7 telehealth and increased counseling staff. Officers from the Princeton Ethiopian and Eritrean Students Association (PEESA) called for increased diversity among Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) staff.
Yet as the year has progressed, ways to improve mental health resources have continued to be debated. Assistant Opinion Editor Eleanor Clemans-Cope argued that Princeton should centralize mental health care under CPS, writing: "Our goal should be zero suicides on campus. This can only be done by re-envisioning Princeton as the primary mental health care provider for students."
AG Mcgee ’22, an alumnus and current Rutgers graduate student, reflects on their experience with Princeton’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) and compares it to their experience with Rutgers’s Next Step program. McGee notes that while Clemans-Cope's broad claim could be dismissed by critics, Rutgers's model can provide a tangible goal for Princeton to emulate. McGee lauds the frequency of counseling sessions and the fact that they were connected to a counselor with the same nonbinary identity as them.
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Analysis by Sidney Singer
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