Let's talk about mental health. Let's talk about how hard it is as a college student to carve out time to prioritize your well-being. Let's talk about how, in between an overwhelming course load and just as many external commitments, taking care of yourself so often falls off the daily to-do list.
Let's talk about how the majority of college students meet the criteria for at least one mental health problem, how 44 percent report symptoms of depression, 37 percent report symptoms of anxiety and 15 percent report considering suicide. Let's talk about how more than 80 percent of college students say they are somewhat struggling emotionally, while more than 25 percent say they are struggling significantly.
The mental health crisis on college campuses is serious and concerning. It is an issue that requires the attention of not just students themselves, but their universities as well, especially at UNC.
Due to these pressures, UNC has made significant commitments to prioritizing mental health. In 2021, former Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz announced additional wellness days and created a support network for mental health awareness. Chancellor Lee Roberts also stated his support of this commitment in a January 2024 interview, saying, “A lot of psychological and mental health challenges were created by the pandemic. ... We're doing a lot of work in that area, and we'll continue to do more.”
Arguably one of the most important initiatives was the implementation of wellness days, now referred to as well-being days, which officially began with the allotment of five days in Spring 2021. Since then, well-being days have fluctuated, but typically feature two days in the fall and three in the spring, as the spring semester has fewer breaks.
Yet on Oct. 8, Provost Christopher Clemens, on the recommendation of the campus Well-being Day Committee, announced that there would be just two well-being days each semester starting Spring 2025. Despite the confusing rhetoric of the message, this is a decrease from the allotted well-being days in the past.
In reality, this change means the loss of just one day off per academic year for the UNC student body. But when even a short break is proven to improve mental health, especially among a struggling demographic like college students, losing just one day can mean a whole lot more.
However, it is the principle of the action that is more concerning. This choice by Provost Clemens and the Well-being Day Committee defies the past commitments UNC has made to mental health.
It calls into question whether the university still prioritizes the mental health of its students, or if, when the pressure to act subsided, they no longer felt the need to do so. It also raises the question of whether well-being days will be removed altogether in the future. Removing mental health days, which were beneficial to students who needed the time to take care of themselves, is a step in the wrong direction for the University.
