How colleges are helping students cope with the loss of Kamala

On November 12, 2024By Pranco

Safe spaces, canceled exams and therapy ducks: how universities are helping students cope with the loss of Kamala

Universities are denouncing President-elect Donald Trump’s victory and offering a slew of therapeutic safe-space activities to help students deal with their emotions.

Several universities are offering counseling services and special post-election debriefing events on campus as professors cancel classes and call for insurrection against the future administration, according to emails obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“I am canceling class today to regret the outcome of the presidential election,” said Shlagha Borah, a assistant professor at Michigan State University (MSU), wrote to students in a class announcement on Wednesday. “As a queer, immigrant woman of color, I cannot in good conscience go about my day as if everything is fine. This is an important historical event that we are witnessing. I hope you take this time to take care of yourself.”

MSU also offered students a “safe space” with therapy dogs, coloring books and free stuffed animals, according to an email from Jodi Hancock, a “director of student success” at the university.

According to an email from the university’s dean, the university’s college of political science hosted a “post-election debriefing” and offered advice to students. MSU’s Counseling and Psychiatric Services also created a “election care package‘ document with ‘coping tips’ such as ‘connecting with nature’ and ‘taking a break from media consumption’.

Neither MSU, Borah nor Hancock immediately responded to the DCNF’s request for comment.

Academics and leaders from different countries universities also vowed to “stand up to” the new Trump administration, fearing higher cuts education and vowed not to comply with future immigration policies.

“We are deeply concerned that the ongoing higher education crisis, involving declining government funding, rising student debt and attacks on academic freedom, will only worsen under the new administration,” said Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). ), wrote in a statement Thursday. “The AAUP is committed to defending our campuses and the mission of higher education by organizing our communities to meet the challenges ahead. Our collective power is needed now more than ever. To that end, we will do everything in our power to protect our institutions, faculty, staff and students and stand up to those who seek to violate academic freedom and the core principle of higher education for the public good.”

“President-elect Trump’s promised mass deportations threaten our students, who may be undocumented, and are of great concern to many in our community,” said Wesleyan University President Michael S. Roth. announced on Wednesday. “The university will not voluntarily assist any federal government effort to deport our students, faculty or staff solely because of their citizenship. Today, the work to defend the most vulnerable has never been more important.”

The university president also pledged to “double down” on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

“Candidate Trump promised to dismantle the departments of diversity, equity and inclusion and punish those schools that do not meet his version of civil rights standards,” Roth wrote. “At Wesleyan, we have long believed in the educational power of diversity, and we know that our Office for Equity and Inclusion has a critical role to play in our educational mission. We will redouble our efforts to increase connectedness while cultivating greater pluralism. That work has never been more important.”

“The attacks on higher education, on democracy, and on the rule of law threaten to wipe out the freedoms that have been hard-won over the past hundred years,” Roth continued. “We must reject the cultivated ignorance used to fan the flames of hatred.”

Wesleyan did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

Along with psychiatric services, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has provided students with “visa-related support” for those facing immigration challenges.

An honors program at the University of Iowa (UI) offered students college credit for attending election reflection events such as “de-stress” yoga and a “cognitive reappraisal workshop.”

Several other universities offered students the opportunity to “share how they have been affected emotionally and psychologically by the election,” such as the University at Buffalo (UB) in New York.

Georgetown University unveiled a “Self-Care Suite” after the election that included milk and cookies, as well as “mindfulness activities” such as coloring and Lego, according to to the Free Press. Many Harvard University professors have canceled classes and extended assignment deadlines to give students a chance to “recover” from the election results, according to the Harvard Crimson reported.

Under pressure from students, a University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) professor has rescheduled an exam that was scheduled to take place shortly after the election. according to to The Daily Pennsylvanian.

The University of Oregon presented therapy animals for election week, including ‘Quacktavious the Therapy Duck’ according to to the university’s events page.

UCLA, UI, UB, Georgetown, Harvard, UPenn, the University of Oregon and the AAUP did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

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