Last year CSUN experienced at least 10 student deaths varying from gang violence, traffic accidents and suicides.

One death is too many, at least that’s what Dr. Mark Stevens, director of University Counseling Services said as he talked about how a student death can affect an entire campus.

In December 2008, a student died because gang members thought he was gang affiliated. In September the campus lost a student who was killed in the Chatsworth Metrolink crash.
Matt Gonzaga’s friend Johoney Lobos was struck by a drunk driver last Fall.

‘I was in disbelief and in shock when I heard the news,’ said Gonzaga, a business marketing sophomore.

‘Some of our friends who were closer to her were affected more,’ said Jerry Carmona, sophomore psychology major. ‘I really saw them change.’

Student deaths have a profound impact on campus, especially when students are in the same age group or take the same classes, Stevens said.

‘Students feel like they can identify in terms of how they died,’ said Stevens. ‘They feel, ‘this can happen to me as well.”

Dr. Janie MacHarg, director of CSU Dominguez Hills’ Student Health and Psychological Services, said students are affected depending on the type of death as well as the relation between two students or their situation.

‘If it’s a suicide any person that was close to the situation could be affected or if it were to happen in (student) housing it could have an impact on that community,’ said MacHarg.
It is a very common feeling, said MacHarg, for students to feel guilty because they were unaware that their friend or classmate was in trouble and if they knew, they could have helped.

In situations where students die, other students look for closure, which is why many universities provide counseling for those who need help coping with a death, she said.
MacHarg brought up the tragic Virginia Tech massacre as an example of how someone can feel at a time of loss.

‘It makes people feel vulnerable, helpless and afraid, like this could happen at any time,’ said MaHarg.

During a time of loss, Dr. Stevens said it’s important that people talk about how they feel.
‘You need to talk to someone, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a counselor,’ said Stevens.
Vincent Titiriga, a communications junior admitted that it was hard to discuss the death of two of his close friends.

‘Two close friends from high school were killed and for one of them the story of how he died didn’t sit well with me,’ Titiriga said. ‘It was very difficult but we all deal in different ways, I used my friends and family or church for support.’

Although other universities may not have dealt with many deaths like CSUN did last year, they still provide psychological assistance for students.

MacHarg does not recall any deaths of students from her campus but said the way students cope with the death of a peer is individualized.

‘People have different needs especially when there is a sudden or unexpected death of a student,’ said Dr. MacHarg.

Counseling centers at different universities in California have experienced an increase in students seeking help, but Stevens said there was no relation to student deaths.

Stevens and MacHarg confirmed an increase in students seeking counseling. However, this growth was not as large as at CSU Fullerton said Gail Pakalns-Naruo, Director of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at Fullerton.

‘In the fall 2008 in September and October we had 50 percent more intake evaluations and counseling than the year before of students seeking counseling,’ said Pakalns-Naruo. ‘It’s hard to determine if they were in relation to student deaths.’

All three directors confirmed that there have been campaigns and campus outreach programs meant to draw to students in to the centers.

‘On our campus particularly we do a lot of outreach we let people know about our services and I think it’s a good sign that more people are coming in,’ said Stevens. ‘I think that it might also be a sign that the stigma attached to seeing a counselor may be going down in our culture.’

A lot of people are confused about what to seek counseling for, and Stevens believes that counseling is not only for major problems.

‘You don’t need to feel sick to come into our University Counseling Center,’ said Stevens. ‘You just need to feel stuck.’