BIG EAST Hosts First Mental Health Summit

6/20/2017 11:50:49 AM

NEW YORK – The BIG EAST Conference held its inaugural Mental Health Summit on June 15-16, featuring a diverse group of attendees that included industry leaders, campus counselors, doctors, athletic trainers, faculty and athletic administrators, NCAA representatives, and the BIG EAST Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). The Summit was held in partnership with the NCAA on the campus of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

The goal of the Summit was to provide institutional personnel with information, insights and basic training so that they can better support the mental health of their student-athletes. Summit speakers also detailed best practices developed by the NCAA and BIG EAST institutions to ensure that adequate resources are accessible and publicized to student-athletes. The need for de-stigmatization of mental health issues was cited as a priority by many of the Summit participants.

“The Summit was a great start in terms of bringing more attention to the importance of good mental health for all of our student-athletes,” said BIG EAST Commissioner Val Ackerman. “We had very good dialogue, and our participants were highly engaged. Hopefully, we can turn this into a regular event so that our schools can stay on top of evolving prevention and treatment strategies in this critical area.”

Ackerman added: “One of our goals is to ease the stigma associated with mental health on our campuses and reassure our student-athletes that sometimes it’s okay to not feel okay. Most of all, we want them to know that we care about them and that there are qualified professionals on their campuses whom they can turn to if they need counseling or support of any kind.”

Chamique Holdsclaw, an All-American at the University of Tennessee and two-time winner of the Naismith Player of the Year award, spoke of her own struggles with depression and bipolar disorder while in college and, later, while playing in the WNBA. Holdsclaw was the subject of a 2015 documentary, “Mind/Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw” and is now an outspoken mental health advocate.

ESPN commentator and journalist Kate Fagan also spoke to the group about her book, “What Made Maddy Run,” the story of University of Pennsylvania track athlete Madison Holleran, who committed suicide in 2014 after struggling with mental health issues. Fagan presented various factors which may lead to student-athlete anxiety and depression, including the trauma of quitting, fears of letting teammates down, reluctance to seek counseling, and pressures associated with social media engagement.

Rachel Bonnetta of FOX Sports, the BIG EAST’s television partner, was the emcee for the event. A FOX Sports Digital correspondent, Bonnetta contributes to FOX Sports social media platforms and FS1 programming. In addition to her emcee duties, she shared some of her personal mental health challenges while she was a student-athlete at Seneca College in Toronto, Ontario.

Members of the BIG EAST SAAC, which is comprised of two student-athletes from each conference institution, also offered their thoughts on how to recognize when their fellow student-athletes may need help.

Additional speakers included representatives of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and Dr. Jessica M. Mohler, CC-AASP, a clinical and sports psychologist who is the Coordinator of Sport Psychology Services and Deputy Director of the Midshipmen Development Center at the United States Naval Academy. Dr. Mohler is the first Sport Psychologist appointed to the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports and is a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee Sport Psychology Registry.
The BIG EAST SAAC has taken the lead in a fundraising campaign to raise money for NAMI to raise awareness of mental health. To donate to the campaign, please go to https://www.gofundme.com/BIGEASTMHS. FOX Sports has pledged to match the donations up to $2,000. In April, the BIG EAST SAAC conducted a social media awareness campaign with the hashtags #BEtalktome #1X4 to promote issues related to mental health.

The Summit concluded with institutions pledging to develop action plans and steps to implement programs that address student-athlete mental health needs.

The BIG EAST Conference is an association of ten nationally prominent colleges and universities that foster healthy athletic competition, community service and the pursuit of excellence in academic environments. The athletic programs of BIG EAST institutions provide national-caliber participation opportunities for more than 3,727 student-athletes on over 180 men’s and women’s teams in 22 sports. Established in 1979 and headquartered in New York City, the BIG EAST’s members are located in seven of the country’s top 35 largest media markets and include Butler University, Creighton University, DePaul University, Georgetown University, Marquette University, Providence College, St. John’s University, Seton Hall University, Villanova University and Xavier University. For more information, visit www.bigeast.com.