Building a Network of Grief Support on College Campuses: A National Grassroots Initiative

Abstract

About one in four college students report grieving the death of a family member or close friend within the past year. Although grief may be difficult at any time, there are several factors unique to the college age and environment that can make it particularly difficult. These factors include geographic distance from home and usual support systems, academic demands, college's “carefree” social life, lack of grief support from peers, and many college campuses' limited resources for grief support. Thus, grieving college students are at greater risk than their peers of a host of academic, social, and developmental issues. In spite of this “silent epidemic,” few targeted, supportive interventions existed on college campuses until 2006, when National Students of AMF was created by grieving college students to support their fellow grieving students. National Students of AMF primarily achieves its mission by creating Campus Chapters, which are university-recognized student organizations. They include a targeted, peer-led Support Group for grieving students to connect with others who “get it” and a Service Group that encourages students to channel their grief towards championing causes that have impacted them. Abundant anecdotal evidence suggests that students, especially males, who shy away from support groups and professional counseling, have found participation in service activities in honor of deceased loved ones to be a preferable therapeutic outlet. Campus Chapters also leverage the “student voice” to promote the other, often underutilized supportive grief resources on campus. Today, there are 43 university-recognized Campus Chapters. In this article, we discuss findings and outline several vital steps that university counselors and administrators can take to facilitate the continued growth of supportive outlets, like National Students of AMF, for grieving college students.

Keywords:

• college
• student
• grief support
• mental health

Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge National Students of AMF Board of Mental Health Professionals, particularly Dr. Andrea Walker, for your expert advice and counsel in developing this program, all of the members of National Students of AMF who have shared their time, love and support with so many others, and the Lisa J. Raines fund for financially supporting this research.