One of the primary concerns of those responsible for students at Clemson should be that all students feel safe, and that there should be in place a system for protecting students who are at risk. The Clemson system that exists to protect at-risk students is called CU Cares, and there are worrying signs that it is operating with a sufficient lack of sensitivity as to be counter-productive.

Clemson University describes CU Cares as a compilation of University resources, policies and procedures to aid in the prevention of and ensure appropriate response to crimes, individuals in crisis, misconduct, harassment, bias, and discrimination.

The way the process works is that if a student believes themselves to be at risk, or if they perceive another student potentially to be at risk, or if any Clemson personnel observe such risk, to harm themselves or others, a report can be made, and then appropriate personnel step in, one would assume, in a sensitive manner.

Within the last few weeks, someone describing themselves as an instructor at Clemson posted an invitation on Reddit for students to describe their experiences with CU Cares. To be fair, there were only 19 comments. But some of the content should be troubling to those responsible for CU Cares.

No names are given, either in the original Reddit post or in the comments. The post and the comments are public, and therefore it is presumed safe and appropriate, indeed necessary, to append a selection of quotes:

“Care reports genuinely helped for the most part, however, I struggled severely with depression when I switched my medication in March and told my RA that I was experiencing suicidal idealizations. She filed a Care report, which I totally get. I got a call from the representative stating that I had to come to their office to talk, and I declined at the moment since I was studying for an exam. They then told me that should I not come, the police would be coming to my dorm due to failure to comply. I was an absolute wreck and ubered to the office because I was shaking and crying, could barely breathe. If this was a student truly on the edge of a suicidal lapse, threatening police action is so counterproductive and detrimental I cannot even comprehend how it would be useful. It was a highly traumatizing event and I told my RA about what that was like. Long story short, don’t threaten your students with police intervention in cases like that. Literally no therapist approves of that s**t.”

“I filed a care report on the behalf of one of my close friends last year because they had resorted to prostitution to pay for classes and felt degraded to the point of self-harm and suicidal thoughts. They met with one therapist once and after were let go, totally unreformed. I can’t tell their exact experience, but I know it did absolutely nothing for them.”

Leaving aside the possibility of fraud, fantasy and scammers, no genuine student at Clemson should be having to write anything like this. University administration, faculty and the Clemson student government should be doing all in their power to legislate and lobby to reduce the pressures and stresses on all students.

What might this look like? Reducing the intensity of semester educative requirements. Increasing financial aid. Providing more funds for university-based crisis response, counseling and support services. Ensuring those services are geared to the sensitivities and requirements of students, and not to the demands of the service providers. Actively reviewing all aspects of the sense of safety at university, including, for example, the desirability of continuing with co-ed dormitories. All of this would be a good start.

In the meantime, please share in our own Comments section below your stories, and please, please find a way to help anyone (perhaps yourself?) you know to be having serious problems coping with university life. We are all of us way more fragile than we allow. There is no shame in admitting we are fallible human beings.

If you are experiencing mental health issues, you can call the National Institute of Mental Health at (866) 615-6464