Cornell suicides rekindle bad rep

With three suspected suicides in less than a month, Cornell University’s reputation a “suicide school” is coming back to haunt the Ivy League.

Officials have responded swiftly to the deaths, concerned that others considering suicide will follow suit:

Residential Advisors (aka R.A.s) have been instructed to knock on doors to check on students;
Professors have interrupted classes to tell students they care about them personally, not just academically;
The University President, Dr. David Skorton, took out a full-page ad in The Cornell Daily Sun, the campus paper, saying: “Your well-being is the foundation on which your success is built. If you learn anything at Cornell, please learn to ask for help.”
Guards have been stationed on the school's many bridges during the end of the week.

At least three other students killed themselves this academic year, bringing the total to six confirmed or suspected suicides. Despite this, Timothy Marchell, a clinical psychologist in the university’s campus health services, insists that the perception of Cornell as a suicide school is just urban legend fuelled by the fact that suicides at the school are often shockingly public.

“When someone died by suicide in a gorge, it’s a very visible public act,” he said.

Urban legend or not, Cornell has reacted to the national attention over the last few years by introducing aggressive mental health outreach:

Custodians are trained to look for signs of emotional trouble when cleaning out dorms;
Therapists hold open-door hours at 10 campus locations;
A faculty handbook advises professors about how to spot students’ distress in its many modern forms, from disturbing artwork to clothes that hide self-mutilation.

There’s no doubt suicide among young people is a national health crisis and it’s not specific to one college campus.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people aged 15-24 year olds. (1st = accidents, 2nd = homicide)
Suicide is the fifth leading cause of death for young people aged 5-14 year olds.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students.