Counseling Services seeing an influx of students this semester

Counseling Services at Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) has experienced an abnormal increase in students seeking help this semester.

Counseling Services provides students with professional and confidential support in times of crisis, challenges or transitions. The staff offers individual, group or couples counseling, consultation, crisis intervention, outreach programming and a variety of other wellness services, according to OWU’s website.

Dr. Doug Bennett, director of Counseling Services, says the number of OWU students who have sought help this semester is atypical. Assistant Director Dr. Julie Duhigg, agrees.

“There is always an increase of requests for help over the progression of a given semester, but this year is standing out in that the requests soared much earlier than usual” Duhigg said.

After running some numbers, Counseling Services recognized a 60 percent increase in students looking for services from this time last year.

“We are struggling to meet the requests for students wanting/needing to be seen. This is unfortunate, and we are working hard to find a way to meet the student body demand for mental health support,” Duhigg said

Students have had to wait around three weeks to get an appointment.

Bennett pointed to a number of causes for this change on OWU’s campus specifically.

“I think this is the new [norm] for us,” Bennett said. “Contributors to that here at OWU have been that we have made a concerted effort to advertise our services quite a bit.”

In addition to the awareness that resulted from such advertising, the creation of the Survivors of Crime Assistance Program (SOCAP) has brought in more students than Counseling Services has seen, Bennett said.

SOCAP, run by counselor Mary DeCenzo, was created through a grant from the office of the Ohio attorney general.“Emphasis of the program is working with survivors of crime,” Bennett said. “At a college campus, what that translates to mostly in regard to her work are individuals who have experienced some type of sexual assault.”

In 2017 there were seven cases of sexual assault on OWU’s campus and in 2016 there were 10, according to OWU’s annual Clery Report.

SOCAP provides OWU students who may have been victims of sexual assault with an appropriate resource that supplies emotional and legal support.

Despite factors specific to OWU, Bennett and Duhigg recognized that this unusual increase in numbers has been a nationwide phenomenon.

“I will add that I am part of a nationwide listserv that provides collegial support to clinical directors of college counseling centers and the majority of other colleges in the U.S. [large and small, public and private] are also commenting on the unprecedented increase in numbers of students in need on their campuses,” Duhigg said.

Bennett identified similar discoveries after attending a conference for counseling directors in New Orleans, LA.

“Talking with my colleagues, I think nationwide we are noticing that counseling services are being called on in greater amounts than we have ever experienced,” Bennett said.

Both Bennett and Duhigg identified academic stressors, social connections and the political climate as factors that have affected this national increase.

“I think that young folks, college students, are under stresses that they haven’t been historically,” Bennet said. “That includes stressors in regard to performance academically and the role that plays in regard to securing employment in the future.”

The increased use of social media has also led to disconnection and made one-on-one interactions less rich and therefore more stressful, Bennett said.

Bennett and Duhigg agreed that the current political climate has also added stressors to students.

Duhigg noted anti-immigration attitudes, the rebirth of white nationalism, mass shootings, anti-transgender policies, reactions to the #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo movements, and threat of climate change as having led to a sense of insecurity in this generation of students.

“I further believe the social/political environment that fosters divisiveness in our country is negatively impacting students,” Duhigg said. “This atmosphere can certainly shape a person’s feeling of safety and security and I think we are seeing that impact creeping in and negatively impacting the mental health of many people in this country … Our students are not immune.”

Despite their struggles in meeting the requests of students, the staff at Counseling Services expressed gladness about students seeking help.

“Ultimately, I am happy that students are utilizing our services because we want to lay eyes on folks and make sure that they are getting what they need,” Bennett said.

According to Bennett, in order to accommodate for the increase in students desiring appointments, Counseling Services will be helping current students evaluate their skills and resources to determine whether or not they will need continued counseling next semester.

Bennett suggested that students waiting for an appointment should utilize the office’s wellness services, which include a meditation room and online resources.

“I also encourage students to take a look at our website because we have spent quite a bit of time putting together resources there that students can access,” Bennett said. “They could learn more about our services, but they could also learn about prevention.”

Counseling Services has walk-in crisis intervention hours from 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. on weekdays for students that may need immediate help.

3 fraternities in 4 years: just a blip in the radar?

In 2015, 133 fraternities and sororities were suspended or closed nationally. But at small liberal arts school Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU), it was just the beginning of a four-year span that could change Greek life at the school forever.

In 2015, Sigma Chi was closed. In 2016, Phi Kappa Psi was suspended. Most recently, in 2018, Phi Delta Theta was suspended. That brings the total number of fraternities on campus to five.

Fraternities have left Ohio Wesleyan before, but not at this rate. The last time OWU Greek life saw events like this was 1983, when Beta Theta Pi was expelled, and Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Alpha Epsilon put on probation for 10 years. The result of that news? A demonstration by nearly 300 students that included four arrests, broken windows and extensive damage to the Beta house.

But is this stretch just a “bump in the road” for fraternities at OWU, or a trend that may continue?

While the reasoning for these decisions is different for each fraternity, the present statistic remains clear: three fraternities have been closed or suspended in the past four years.

Immediate reactions to this statistic have been mixed around Fraternity Hill and around campus. Some instinctively resort to blame, others understanding, but a sense of sadness is the one emotion that wraps around the hill. This includes senior and President of Sigma Phi Epsilon Austen Kimbro:

“It is extremely sad and concerning that three fraternities have been kicked off of campus over my four years here…and that is a very terrifying thing to try and conceptualize,” Kimbro said.

Three former Phi Kappa Psi members, who were granted anonymity, think this statistic is absurd, considering some of the “justifications” used in closing/suspending these fraternities:

“I think it’s completely outrageous, that something like that’s happened in such a short period of time, especially when some of them were unjustified,” one former member said. “Like Sigma Chi, when they got kicked off had no reason other than speculation. There have been circumstances with the other two fraternities, but I just think they should’ve been looked at from a different perspective.”

The relationship between the administration and fraternities has been sensitive considering these instances. The feeling that President Rock Jones and the rest of the administration don’t believe in Greek life has been circulating students, even though Jones has publicly stated the support of Greek life by the university.

“It is important for everyone to know that Ohio Wesleyan values the Greek community and the individuals who contribute to it,” Jones said in an email sent after the Phi Delta Theta announcement.

Some students, however, don’t believe it or haven’t seen enough to prove otherwise. Junior and Phi Gamma Delta President Eli Rajotte thinks the desire to believe it is there, but still needing evidence.

“I feel like I’m at the point where I’ll believe it when I see it,” Rajotte said.

Rajotte’s fraternity brother AJ Outcalt, a senior, thinks there is that belief and support from the administration.

“Without them or [Director of Clubs and Fraternity & Sorority Life Dana Behum] it would be in a lot worse situation,” Outcalt said.

Fraternities also feel that the university doesn’t focus enough on punishing the individual, rather than the organization. Senior and Delta Tau Delta member John Bonus thinks this is something the school could take a different approach with, although he understands the wholeness aspect of a Greek organization.

“I understand it’s a mutually selective program: we give bids out, those guys choose to accept those bids, and we all have the same values and go through the same processes, so in a way I understand the organization is whole and accepts some responsibility,” Bonus said. “But when only a few members get in trouble for something, it seems pretty unfair to punish the entire organization, especially when they’re building something so positive.”

“The sad part is that, the organizations that have been kicked off had some very good men, who do the right things, but it is unfortunate that some of their brothers made poor choices which ultimately led to the removal of the fraternities,” Kimbro said.

These instances have led fraternities to feel targeted, as if they’re “walking on eggshells.” The bigger picture is the increased presence of University Public Safety on Fraternity Hill that leads to students being upset, says Delta Tau Delta member Andrew Woods.

“It’s more of Public Safety taking the role of ‘almost police officers’ and investigating and actively searching out things, shining flashlights at our house during weekends just to try to see if people are inside, doing random walk throughs of our house and letting themselves in without telling anybody and doing ‘spot inspections’ whenever they feel like,” Woods said. “So those are all things that contribute to fraternity members being very targeted and worried that they’re going to get evicted from their house any day.”

But this article brings you back the question, again with mixed answers is this stretch just a “bump in the road” for fraternities at OWU, or a trend that may continue?

“Although three Greek life organizations have been kicked off, I do believe that this is just a bump in the road.” Kimbro said. “It is very clear that the way Greek life is operating is changing, and to survive we must adapt. After the suspensions are up, I fully believe that Greek life will expand and flourish again.”

“I hope it is just a bump in the road but honestly it’s hard to not look at it and see a trend,” Bonus said. “Obviously, we have some great people in the administration looking out for us but I also think there are many who see Greek life as a liability.”

“I absolutely think it’s a bump in the road.” Rajotte said. “It’s really common, prior to getting kicked off, that it’s a group of people that hold their name, their Greek organization’s name, but aren’t fully inline with the values they instill, and that can draw more downsides toward you. I really truly hope with the most recent suspension that that’s the end of it.”

Will I ever find love? No, but i’ll write about it

Dating for college students has become like taking another class. Students must find the person, go on multiple dates, engage in conversation via text or dm’s with them and discuss their ‘status’. For most students, there is simply not enough time during the day for this.

Between shuffling to classes, maintaining a high-grade point average (GPA) and engaging on campus via clubs or friends, students are stretched thin. Traditional dating can become a lost art.

A student from the University of Pennsylvania said in a 2013 New York Times article that she “positioned herself in a way that I can’t have a meaningful romantic relationship because I’m always so busy and the people that I am interested in are always busy, too,” and others agreed.

Online dating has become the main source for finding love. Students can download apps like Bumble or Tinder and simply swipe on a profile, without ever having to meet that person face to face, let alone have a conversation. The easiness of swiping takes away the emotional reaction to being rejected in person, as a user never knows who is turning them down. Users only know who is mutually interested in them.

“It takes a lot less effort to go on your phone than try to meet people in person,” sophomore Madison Drabick said.

Despite these new advances, students are still able to meet their respective partner in person with minimal issues. Students at Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) often meet on campus due to the small size of the school.

“Couples at OWU meet through similar activities that they’re involved in, similar classes, and maybe a handful meet online,” sophomore Isabelle Rodriguez said.

For some students, sending a text or message is easier than talking in person. In a study reported by USA Today in 2013, approximately one-third of men (31%) and women (33%) agree it’s less intimidating to ask for a date via text vs. a phone call.

Hookup culture also dominates the dating field. Students are often so busy in their daily lives that they can’t see themselves doing anything more than casually hooking up with someone.

“Apps like Tinder have made it to where you’re experiencing looking through playing cards of infinite potential partners,” senior Adia Barmore said. “It makes people believe that there’s always something better out there instead of being satisfied with what they have. It less about getting to know people and more about moving on to the next sexual conquest.”

Online dating remains uncharted territory for some, leaving them questioning if that it can inhibit the natural chemistry people have when they meet. For most students, it seems to be a double-edged sword, something that is so ingrained into society that you must learn to use it, properly.

“I feel like with online dating you have a greater variety to meet people you’d never thought you would meet in the first place and it really expands your horizons, but then again it can be kind of sketchy, [because] you never know who someone is so they could just be hiding behind a screen,” sophomore Jacey Sheffel said.

Ohio Wesleyan’s “invisible problem”

Ohio Wesleyan University’s (OWU) associate professor of history, Michael Flamm, voiced his uncertainty in the November faculty meeting about OWU lasting the next five years as a nationally-recognized liberal-arts college.

Not all faculty members attend each meeting so Flamm took it upon himself to send out a statement making everyone aware of his concerns.

In the statement he explains how he had hopes that OWU would continue to be an example of a superior liberal-arts college. But after multiple transitions in senior administration, most notably the departure of former Vice President for University Advancement Colleen Garland, his opinion on the matter has changed.

“When I arrived at OWU in 1998, 20 years ago, we aspired to become Kenyon and saw ourselves as a reasonable rival to Denison,” Flamm said. “Wooster was clearly a peer institution – in many respects we were superior. Now I doubt whether we can still see Wooster’s tail lights as it pulls away and leaves us in the dust.”

His concern stems from, in his words, the “invisible crisis” that is low faculty morale. In order to assess morale, Flamm suggested in the April faculty meeting that a survey be administered to identify if there is in fact an invisible crisis.

OWU administration opted to conduct a Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) survey next spring to measure faculty morale. COACHE is a research-practice partnership, through the Harvard Graduate School of Education, between institutions dedicated to improving faculty recruitment, development and retention (https://coache.gse.harvard.edu/).

Dale Swartzentruber, associate provost for institutional research and academic budget management, allowed Flamm to put forward questions to include, as the COACHE survey allows for the addition of questions from the institution that will be administering it. Flamm added four additional questions on top of the already pre-existing questions.

The four questions are as follows –

1) During my time at Ohio Wesleyan, the university has become a stronger institution with better students.

2) In the past five years, I have lowered expectations, diluted standards, or inflated grades in my classes at Ohio Wesleyan.

3) Five years from now, Ohio Wesleyan will have more and better students.

4) President Jones has Ohio Wesleyan on the right track and is the right leader to guide the university for the next five years.

Faculty will be able to indicate whether they strongly agree, somewhat agree, neither agree nor disagree, somewhat disagree, strongly disagree, I don’t know or decline to answer to each question on the survey.

Associate Professor of Modern Foreign Language Tom Wolber was present at the November faculty meeting, and when asked for his reaction to what Flamm said, pointed out that, “Dr. Flamm has the right to ask whether President Jones has OWU on the right track and whether he is the right leader to guide the university for the next five years. We do value and practice free speech on campus. However, I would point out that while the faculty has the primary responsibility for the academic curriculum and faculty employment (incl. tenure and promotion), the president serves at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees.”

The danger faced when faculty morale is low is faculty starting to become disengaged to the point where the overall health of the university suffers.

Among other things, the success of an institution is dependent on its faculty and students. An indication of low faculty morale can be attributed to the size of OWU’s student body and the concern for the its decreasing size.

A university relies on the collective commitment of its faculty to go above and beyond what they are contractually obligated to do. Although teachers are only required to teach three or four classes, for the university to do well, faculty need to provide more than those few classes.

Without this commitment, faculty won’t put in extra hours when it comes to providing individual help to their students, cultivating lesson plans that relay information in an interesting way or being enthusiastic about the material being taught.

“There’s what I’m required to do and then there’s what I should do in order to make Ohio Wesleyan the great place that it should be. That’s the question, and morale directly effects that commitment,” Flamm said.

With the lack of students, Flamm says “more and more faculty members are demoralized and disengaged and that therefore any efforts made to improve the university or to improve programs in the curriculum are destined to fail because you do not have an optimistic committed faculty to implement those changes.”

Evidence suggests that the Wenzlau era was the beginning of the decline in student enrollment.

Former President Dr. Thomas E. Wenzlau served from 1969-1984 as OWU’s 12th President. In 1981, he conceived the Reach for Quality program with the goal of making more selective choices with the type of students OWU accepted. The concern for gradual “slippage” in standards was what prompted the reduction in enrollment.

The program was projected to cut enrollment to 1,800 by the fall of 1985. Enrollment had peaked in 1970 at 2,500. The plan worked a little too well, with OWU seeing a 32 percent drop in enrollment. Only 448 new students showed up in the fall of 1985, down from 662 the previous year.

Fast forward to today and the mindset is the complete opposite.

Wasn’t it in the fall of 2017 that Rock announced OWU’s newest initiative to increase enrollment to 2,020 by the year 2020, a projected 20 percent growth in the student body? What happened to that? Was it assumed that the “Connect Today, Create Tomorrow” campaign would overshadow the effort to increase enrollment?

Just looking at the last five years, Ohio Wesleyan fall semester full-time enrollment has decreased from 1,828 in 2013-14 to 1,558 in 2017-18 (https://www.owu.edu/ex/factBook/enrollmentDemographics.php).

“No one likes to have their judgments, decisions, and leadership questioned, but it is a necessary part of being a leader and of being open to listening and collaborating to do what is right. That open and collaborative environment is part of the power of higher education, and I respect and value it,” Jones said when asked how he felt about his leadership being called into question.

While retention rates are a serious topic amongst colleges and universities, the retention of faculty and staff at a university/college can be overlooked. Ohio Wesleyan, more so in the last year, is one of these school that are seeing decreases. Jones, however, is sure that OWU is prepared for such occurrences.

“Ohio Wesleyan has established practices for providing support for departments when faculty leave unexpectedly, and for allocating tenure-track faculty lines,” Jones said. “As the size of the student body has decreased in recent years, the number of allocated faculty positions has decreased proportionally. We are quite focused on increasing the size of the student body and, concurrently, increasing the size of the faculty.”

Last year, multiple OWU departments requested a total of 19 faculty positions be filled not including the five departures and one retiree.  Most of the positions were left over from previous retirements and departures. The administration, in consultation with the OWU Board of Trustees, agreed to fund four of the 20 empty positions for the 2019-2020 academic year.

Former Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Jim Peoples retired last year, and when asked if low faculty morale prompted his decision, he responded that, “Low faculty morale is not a factor in my decision. But I would say that faculty morale is the lowest since I came 30 years ago. Some evidence is lower attendance at faculty meetings –a quorum is far more difficult to achieve and a number of younger faculty leaving for other institutions with their faculty lines not being replaced.”

From China to OWU: An adaptation to American culture

As one of the over 150 international students at Ohio Wesleyan, Sixin “Echo” Wang came to the United States to learn from a different culture than their own.

Coming from her home in Shenzhen, China, Wang is in her sophomore year studying early childhood education. By immersing herself as a student in a foreign culture, she has experienced social difficulties, including communication barriers and the feeling of being left out.

“Being involved in society and making friends is hard,” she said. “Different cultural backgrounds make us different, so sometimes [I] feel isolated.”

When Wang first came to OWU, she would visit Hamilton-Williams Campus Center and see fellow students hanging out or a variety of club activities, but her broken English left her hesitant. She would walk away frustrated and wanting to join them, but not knowing how to take the leap.

“No matter what, international student[s] should be bold and go out outside [their] comfort zone,” she said. “Everything will be fine.”

Despite her feelings and challenges, her post-graduation plans aren’t in the United States, but back in China. Wang came to learn a better educational system for China’s future, and with this insight, she says she wants to fix the country’s teaching of younger generations.

Wang said being an international student has given her great opportunities to obtain different perspectives and knowledge, but those feelings of loneliness and isolation are not unusual.

Volleyball Team “Drafts” Serena Scillia as a New Member

Ohio Wesleyan’s volleyball team has partnered with an organization called Team Impact. Team Impact drafts children who fight chronic illnesses to join college athletic teams. Serena Scillia fights cystic fibrosis but that doesn’t stop her from her passion, playing volleyball. Welcome to the team, Serena.

Delaware’s potty problem

You may have flushed something in the toilet that supposedly cannot be flushed, but once it’s flushed, everything’s fine, right? Well not exactly.

Delaware, OH is experiencing the same problem the rest of the U.S. is facing: flushing unflushable products down the toilet which could damage homes as well as wallets too. The Upper Olentangy Water Reclamation Center has to work to fix this issue everyday. Wastewater managers Greg Doubikin and Bryan Livingston have seen the outcomes of Delaware residents flushing down objects that shouldn’t be flushed.

The items that the water reclamation center have to physically remove from the system to prevent damages are cloth, medications, condoms, tampons, plastics and even items that state they are flushable.

Pumps in the water reclamation center’s system were failing because of flushable wipes.

“They say they’re flushable but that doesn’t mean they will biologically breakdown,” Doubikin said. “It just means that they will physically fit down the toilet.”

When these pumps fail, the sewage can start to back up in peoples’ homes and get in their basements.

The Upper Olentangy Water Reclamation has started an outreach program to the city of Delaware by mailing out pamphlets out to residents. These pamphlets explain what items not to flush down the toilet, how to properly dispose of unwanted medication and proper trash disposal.

The medication being disposed of improperly is an issue in and of itself.

“If someone is taking or disposing of medication improperly, it theoretically could come all the way through the treatment plant, not be dealt with, and be back out in the river, which is going downstream and reaching the next water plant and go into your drinking water,” Doubikin said.

The time, effort, energy and money being spent to remove these unflushable items out of the pumps are costly. A pump that had to be repaired back in May costed $25,000. The money to repair these damages come from taxpayers. If they needed to completely replace that pump, it would cost $130,000.

“If that pump got destroyed because of something getting flushed down there and it had to be replaced, at the end of the day, it is taxpayers who are paying for it,” Doubikin said.

Ohio Wesleyan is contributing to the problem as well. Livingston has noticed the effects of Ohio Wesleyan students improperly disposing items down the toilet.

“Our flow definitely does increase during the school year,” Livingston said.

OWU housekeeper Don Sherman has to clean up from students’ careless flushings, he too has seen students failing to properly dispose of items.

“It’s usually tampons and paper towels that students are trying to flush down,” Sherman said. “But those items are not always flushing down.”

The Upper Olentangy Water Reclamation Center’s biggest issue are citizens flushing misleading “flushable” products, which are building up in pumps and causing wear and tear.

Trump and his new transgender policy

By Maddie Matos, Arts & Entertainment Editor

The Trump administration announced to the world that it is considering defining gender by genitalia at birth, threatening the rights of transgender people across the nation.

The news comes at a time where people of all minorities feel threatened daily by an administration that seems to be against them at all costs. The announcement created a social media storm, with people tweeting and posting that they stand with transgender people and the policy, if it proceeds, threatens the human rights of over one million people in the United States.

By identifying gender at birth, many people will be confined to whatever gender they are born. This can lead people who have had their gender markers changed on legal documents have to revert back to their birth gender.

Donald Trump’s policies differ drastically from President Barack Obama’s policies. Obama allowed for looser restrictions on gender and sex, allowing people to define it when they want to, not at birth.

The Department of Health and Human Services is also attempting to alter transgender rights by establishing a legal definition of sex under Title IX, according to the New York Times on Oct. 21. The efforts leave transgendered and other marginalized people feeling uneasy.

Restriction of human rights is not new to the American political system. Throughout our history, Americans who are not the typical heterosexual white male have had to fight for basic rights. America has long ignored these problems until the civil rights movement in the late 1960s, which forced citizens of the United States to see for the first time the plight of others in the nation. The LGBT movement is experiencing the same issues.

Allying ourselves with marginalized peoples will not only strengthen their causes but bolster our causes as well. Unity in numbers as well as ideals is what the United States has valued for decades, leaving the opportunity for a new era of campaigning and protesting in our able hands.

Ohio Wesleyan senior makes history with theater production

By Maddie Matos, Arts & Entertainment Editor

The weekend of Oct. 4 brought colonization and modern times together at Ohio Wesleyan University’s production of Cloud 9.

The show was directed by senior Ares Harper, making it the first show to be directed by a student in over 45 years.

Cloud 9 is divided into two acts that correlate with one another. The first act focuses on a British family in colonial Africa circa 1880. The family dynamic plays a key role in the plot of the show. Various characters are forced to suppress their sexual desires and orientations due to the social structures of the times they live in. This allowed the audience to draw obvious parallels between sexual oppression and colonialism.

“The show brought up a lot of serious questions… and social commentary,” sophomore Hannah Carpenter said.

The cast of seven students were asked to play 18 different roles in the show. Each character in the first act had a correlating character in the second act. Some characters switched their gender in the show as well, adding a unique aspect to the show.

The second act was set in modern-day London. This act was more lighthearted, allowing the audience to laugh while still understanding the themes of the show

“It was a good way to interweave humor with an important subject matter without it being convoluted or overdone,” sophomore Claire Yetzer said.

The audience received the show well, with standing ovations at the end of the program. Some actors got high praise as well for their roles in the show.

“I liked Edward in both the first and second half… he seemed honest and genuine,” Yetzer said.

Edward was played by freshman Jasmine Lew in the first act and sophomore Logan Kovach in the second act. The character is a gay man who must suppress his sexuality in the first half, and then in the second half come to terms with what he identifies as.

“It was interesting to see him in both the Victorian era and the modern era,” Carpenter said.

Each character had to grapple with their needs and desires to better themselves. The connection to the show was strong among the audience, with both Yetzer and Carpenter feeling the show offered insight into the need for self-enlightenment.