Starting Tuesday evening and continuing throughout this week and the next, University administrators supplemented
the existing support services for grieving students in order to help them cope with the death of Terence Leary ’06.
The Office of Behavioral Health extended its hours to 10 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday evening, and will be open from about noon to 6 p.m. this weekend.
“The utilization has been such that we know it’s clearly been of value to people,” said the Director of the Office
of Behavioral Health, Dr. Philippa Coughlan.
She added that counselors have followed-up with those who have come by in order to ensure that everyone’s needs are being met.
In addition, Dr. Laurence Antosz and other members of the Behavioral Health staff met with the members of the Psi Upsilon fraternity, the baseball team and the current residents of Leary’s hall.
Members from each group were invited to participate in a support based discussion and to help them come to
terms with the news. A reception was also held on Wednesday evening in the Butterfield C lounge.
“The meetings were helpful in initiating some sort of talk and making people feel comfortable asking what they wanted to ask and saying what they wanted to say,” said Tobias Wasser ’06. “It helped us to remember what was so great about Terence.”
Wasser explained that Antosz stressed that different people respond differently to grief and may have differing grieving periods and thus should not censor themselves. According to Antosz, all reactions are appropriate.
Behavioral Health also met with the staff of Residential Life on Tuesday afternoon, and one of Leary’s former RAs, Mikki Columbus ’05, plans to gather Leary’s former hall mates together for a group discussion. Though they will be the only ones invited, Columbus said that all are welcome.
University Chaplains have also situation. “The key thing is not to be alone,” said Jewish Chaplain Rabbi D a v i d
Leipziger. “When you’re in college that’s sometimes difficult…I think this is a time where professionals can make a difference.”
For those particularly close to Leary, the OBHS runs a student grief support group that has been in existence for five years and meets every Tuesday. According to Coughlan, though not always present, Antosz is available as a resource during each meeting.
According to Dean of Student Services Mike Whaley, in the event of a tragedy that affects the campus community as a whole, the family is asked what they wish to have shared.
The deans help to facilitate follow-up support and to connect students and parents with chaplains or other resources. “Our primary role is to support students,” he said. “We provide information to the campus community on a need to know basis.”
Director of University Communications Justin Harmon explained that while administrators can elucidate upon issues such as the procedure Public Safety follows when bringing students to the emergency room, the University is legally bound to keep details pertaining to Leary’s personal life confidential.
Unless explicitly stated by his family, nothing kept private during Leary’s life can now be released. “It’s the family’s prerogative to decide whether they wish to share any [of the details of Leary’s mental state] with the community at large,” he said.
“It’s not for the University to decide that the campus should unilaterally know anything about the personal life
of Terence Leary.”
However, administrators can address concerns by placing the issues into context.
“Despite the constraints on commenting on the situation because of privacy issues, we have been able to address the underlying concerns of students,” he said. Coughlan added that the matter is still under investigation and that it will be at least several weeks before the bulk of the evidence can be collected and examined.
For those who plan to attend the funeral, the University will provide transportation to Leary’s hometown, Rockville Centre, N.Y., on Saturday morning.
Students can find more information by clicking on the link that has been created under the “Student Resources” section of the University homepage.
The friends of those particularly struck by Leary’s death have provided some much needed support.
According to Jenny Low ’06, one of Leary’s freshman year hall mates, she has had many late night conversations with some of the other members of her hall last year.
Lynn Leber ’06, also found solace in those who know her best.
“My friends have been such an amazing support group,” she said. In a moving parallel, it is Leary’s friendliness that Leber remembers best. “It may sound like a cliché, but from the bottom of my heart, he was hands down the nicest person I’ve ever met,” she said.
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