Recognizing the mental health crisis in education

Michael Hawes, Ph.D., director of Fulbright Canada and president and CEO of the Foundation for Educational Exchange between Canada and the United States, presented a special lecture on understanding the mental health crisis among students in higher education on November 9 in Graham Copeland Auditorium in Grimsley Hall. The presentation focused on significant questions about belonging, connectedness and confidence building and on how transformative experiences like study abroad have played an essential role in reducing stress and anxiety by helping students to imagine a world with greater possibilities.

The Leverett Lecture series honors James Patrick Leverett, who served as a faculty member in The Citadel Department of Psychology for 10 years. In 2005, Leverett died tragically in a plane crash in Alaska. Upon his death, this annual event was created to commemorate his many contributions to The Citadel. Leverett was a skilled clinician, a gifted teacher, a beloved colleague and a devoted mentor. Each year the Department of Psychology invites a guest speaker to give the Leverett Lecture and opens the event to all faculty, staff, students and the community.