Trouble in Paradise?
Growing Demand for Mental-Health Services Stretch Whittier College’s Resources.
Sean L. Frank
Gazing out from the Suomi Roof Deck of Whittier College’s Science and Learning Center, one is greeted by an idyllic impression of a small, Southern Californian liberal arts school. The rolling Whittier Hills, often colored a dark orange as the sun sets over the Pacific, dwarf the quaint 19th century architecture surrounding the upper quad of the campus. Off to the west, the skyline of Downtown Los Angeles peaks through the smog. It appears as a far off, glitzy urban mirage in the distance. On a clear day, you can even see the Hollywood sign.
Down below, at peak hours, Whittier College students crowd the quad’s cement walkways. They hurriedly flow through the channels — sometimes in large clusters, and sometimes alone, with a coffee in hand and sometimes, both. Others settle down in the lawn chairs that line these paths, using their free period to watch in veiled amusement as their peers rush off to class. The college community is observably diverse — Whittier is, after all, famously known for and committed to it. All sorts of people from all walks of life and from all over the globe comprise the foot traffic along the paths lacing the grassy upper campus.
This is a perfectly unassuming academic ecosystem — to many students, the microcosmic heart of vast Los Angeles County. This is the promise of Whittier College, a big part of what it’s selling. Visit the website and you are immediately struck by the hook: “A four-year college located between Downtown Los Angeles and Downtown Disney.” The college capitalizes on its geographic allure, as well as its intimate academic ethos. To the Whittier College student, it should feel as though the expansive metropolis of Los Angeles and the golden shores of Orange County buckle to the gravitational pull of their little learning community.
Noel Davidson felt that pull as far away as New York City, where he had lived for all his young life. “I mean, I’d say it was partly because I wanted a change of scene,” says Davidson. “Mostly, I think I came here because I wanted to be heard… perpetually, if that makes any sense?”
Davidson transferred to Whittier from Howard University in Washington, D.C. in pursuit of a more intimate collegiate experience. “In a larger environment — like the one I transferred out of — it’s very easy to get lost,” he explains. “Professors don’t listen to you, and nobody knows you on a meaningful level.”
The first-year transfer also emphasized the importance of mental health in pursuing academic success, and hoped to find the support he needed here. “Mental health resources are probably the biggest thing for me right now. I think that as long as I’m alright, my grades will be, too,” says Noel. “A lot of us are obviously struggling — work loads, navigating adulthood, etcetera. It used to be an ‘unspoken thing,’ but it no longer is. And the college administration should get up to speed with us in that regard.”
“Mental health resources are probably the biggest thing for me right now. I think that as long as I’m alright, my grades will be, too.”
As the clock ticks on past afternoon and into the evening, Whittier College’s upper quad is now desolate — and the hills loom over it as a black, impenetrable wall. All the students have already made their way back to their dorms or homes, where they will likely spend the hours preparing the next day’s work. Deadlines grow nearer, and textbooks seem to become impossibly dense. The day’s anxieties begin to encroach, and the textbooks become even denser. So dense that one may even struggle to bring themselves to open it.
It is no secret that college students are a demographic particularly susceptibel to anxiety and poor mental health. “Student reacts to college in a variety of ways,” says Dr. Narasappa Kumaraswamy, Professor of Psychology at the University Malaysia Sabah. “For some students college is stressful because it is an abrupt change from high school. For others separation from home is a source of stress. Although some source of stress is necessary for personal growth to occur, the amount of stress can overwhelm a student and affect the ability to cope.”
At Whittier College, the Counseling Center is the outlet for students who are seeking support for mental-health-related concerns. The center offers free mental health consultations (both in-person and virtual), individual therapy, couples therapy, and grief counseling to Whittier undergrads, as well as varying mental-health workshops and Telehealth appointments. But, owing partly to the currently volatile state of our world, growing feelings of anxiety and instability which have roiled student bodies all across the globe beg the question: Are these services enough? As the number of students who need accommodations for depression and anxiety rise, are Whittier’s counseling services prepared for the increasing demand?
One student, a third-year at Whittier College who would prefer to remain anonymous, says it isn’t. “I used to use them, but I stopped because it didn’t seem to be worth it to me,” she said. “I would come to [the counselor] with problems which were really real to me, like, ‘This is something that I’m struggling with, and I’m not sure what to do.’ And she would seriously say back to me something like, ‘Ohhh, I understand how that could be frustrating for you…’ Like… Yeah! I know! That’s why I came to you!”
According to this student, it is no secret that the Counseling Center is struggling with its workload. As the number of students seeking counseling rises, the school’s number of trained professionals remains static. “I suffer from actual diagnosed depression. A few of my friends here do, too — and they all use the Counseling Center,” the student said. “It’s really hard to get an appointment, and it never really helped me anyways, so… I’m not sure. I’m trying that Telehealth thing right now, but I find it sort of disingenuous to be honest.”
Small college communities, such as Whittier College, are especially sensitive to the wellbeing of their students. When students and administration work in tandem, meeting each other where they are, the environment can work as intended. In that scenario, the virtues advertised by the college — such as a close interpersonal dynamic between students and faculty, and increased attention to individual needs — are met.
In this optimal state, the community offers something unique: A sense of intimacy and acceptance that could be coveted by just about any student body around today. The downside of the small community, however, is that it is much more vulnerable to conflict — when one person gets left behind, everybody feels it. Recent events, though, such as the seemingly sudden decision to cut the college’s men’s football and lacrosse programs, as well as the golf program, the administration’s transparency has been called into question.
“At this point, the students should really hope for the front office to make good on their promise to us,” says Noel Davidson. “Ok… You’re going to cut football. Now what? I heard the money the school will be saving will be put towards ‘Student Health and Wellness.’ What is that, exactly? I just hope the administration will listen to the students and be honest with us for once when it comes to where this money is going to go. I don’t think anyone wants to see it swept under the rug into some b.s. program or something that doesn’t really benefit the people who need support.”
“At this point, the students should really hope for the front office to make good on their promise to us.”
