Cura in Mind: SLU Public Safety Serves and Protects Students' Mental Well-Being
They are the ones called to protect students and help them through crises, especially those that stem from mental health issues.
And while they will always be there for students in their times of need, Sgt. Mike Otten and the officers of Saint Louis University’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) want to help students cope and connect before they reach those critical, potentially devastating moments.
Otten, for one, knows intimately how a mental health issue can spiral and can ultimately lead a loved one to make an irreversible, heart-breaking choice. And he knows that training and self-care are also crucial to helping staff, faculty and other students support their fellow Billikens who may be struggling.
"Our job, just from a human being standpoint, is not to fix someone or even to heal that person," Otten said. "Our job is to help them right now, in the moment of a crisis, is to do our best to get them to someone better trained and equipped just as we do for a broken bone. My job is to get you safe and out of harm’s way. Our people have training. Our people are there for you."
As part of their efforts to help students care for their emotional and psychological health, Otten and his family have also shared their own story of a loved one’s mental health struggles with St. Louis listeners through an interview with KTRS-AM 550 as part of National Suicide Prevention Month.
Nationally, the incidence and awareness of mental health and wellness issues has increased on college campuses. The Chronicle of Higher Education, among others, has highlighted the rise in student mental health needs in recent years.
Connecting with Students to Honor “Jakey”
In December 2013, Otten and his family experienced tragedy. His 24 year-old nephew, Jake Zeller, died by suicide. Known as "Jakey" to loved ones, he seemed to have everything going for him, his uncle said.
The family was stunned, devastated. For Otten, "it became a huge wake-up call for me if this kid, who had the whole world in the palm of his hand, could look in the mirror and see himself as broken."
As the family grieved, its members, including Otten, got involved with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), volunteering and training to help other families coping with mental illness and suicide.
The family then formed Team JAKEY to raise money to support suicide risk awareness and prevention efforts. The team has gone on to raise more than $200,000 for the cause, and it holds a major fundraiser each September.
Billiken fans and other SLU community members attending events at Chaifetz Arena have also helped as Team JAKEY members have worked concessions to raise money and awareness in support of Jake’s legacy on special game nights.
But Otten has seen increasing needs on SLU’s campus, and he and his fellow DPS members have used Jake’s life as a touchstone as they’ve expanded their efforts and have undertaken new training to support SLU students.
"We like to talk a good game, but societally we still don’t look at this as an illness," Otten said. "We need to do a better job recognizing that with mental illness."
DPS Officers Add Stress-Busting to Their Charge to ‘Protect and Serve’
A law enforcement veteran before joining SLU’s public safety team, Otten has become the point man for DPS’s mental health and wellness programs.
With the support of his fellow officers and University leadership, Otten has worked with his colleagues to expand the department’s mental health and wellness resources. SLU DPS officers have undertaken additional training about mental health and wellness issues. The majority of SLU’s public safety personnel have received 40 or more hours of crisis intervention training.
By 2020, all SLU DPS officers are on track to become certified in Mental Health First Aid, a national program that teaches people the skills to respond to signs of mental illness and/or substance abuse issues, Otten said.
The department, in partnership with the Department of Campus Recreation and Wellness, has also hosted numerous "De-Stress with DPS" events, from karaoke to hot cocoa to bringing miniature therapy horses to campus to help students cope with finals anxiety and other stress.
"The members of the Department of Public Safety consider ourselves an integral part of protecting the well-being of all of our students," James Moran, assistant vice president for public safety and emergency preparedness, said. "We expect our officers to be prepared to handle any crisis."
With campus events significantly curtailed to protect the students, faculty and staff members from the COVID-19 pandemic, Otten and his fellow officers are planning to gradually re-introduce De-Stress events, including visits from their miniature equine collaborators in the spring of 2021.
Training, Outreach Efforts Extends Helping Hands Across Campus
In an effort to prepare officers to respond to SLU community members who may be experiencing a mental health crisis, DPS officers are required to take 40 hours of intensive, comprehensive training developed by professionals specifically for these situations.
"This training has proven invaluable," Moran continued. "Our officers feel that our training fosters more awareness and openness around mental health issues and we promote programs to help remove the stigma surrounding mental health – encouraging positive experiences with our SLU community, especially our students."
The events, including Post-Secret U and other wellness activities that DPS and other campus partners organize, have been ways of getting students together and to helping them connect with others. Otten's son and fellow DPS officer, Max, masterminded Post-Secret U, along with campus partners.
"The more we can get these kids involved," he said, "the better. It gets you out of the dorm, interacting with people. It gets your mind moving."
Beyond their campus outreach efforts, Otten and Moran have also emphasized mental health and wellness within their ranks. DPS officers, Otten explained, are often first on the scene to troubling events.
Officers are encouraged, through training and in the department’s wider culture, to seek help and support, Otten explained, with colleagues trained to help each other stay well and healthy.
"It’s easy to get to the point where you are your own worst enemy," Otten said. "You need to take care of yourself in order to take care of those you are charged with loving and protecting."
Mike’s Story: Care and Conversation to Help Billikens Cope
Beyond the formal programs, DPS officers are encouraged to reach out and to get to know students – from informal bike races to being a confidant when times get rough.
For Otten, father to a daughter who is a senior at Rockhurst University and to a son who has now joined him as a SLU DPS officer, getting to know the students he sees daily in his role managing Chaifetz Arena’s security is a gift.
"I interact with them the same way I would want someone to interact with my daughter at college if she’s having a bad day," he said. "To offer a smile or a kind word."
"It’s such an amazing gift you have – to interact with these kids and to impact their lives daily," he continued. "My job is to help them not worry about the next four years, but to think about the next forty. They are still away from mom and dad and are dealing with stuff they’ve never had to deal with."
Forming relationships and reaching out to students, he said, is a critical way to create that lasting impact.
"If we can get them to talk about anything, it gives them the strength to talk about what’s really, really important and uncomfortable for them and for us," Otten said. "They want to talk. We just have to let them know, not just that we’re here, but that we’re here with a non-judgmental attitude, and we either have answers or will help them find them."
Nationally and at home here at SLU, mental health and wellness issues have become increasingly visible. In the spirit of cura personalis, the University community's call to “care for the individual person” and to respect the dignity of each person as a child of God, Cura in Mind, a limited series, is shining a light on the ways that Billikens are helping students cope, manage and thrive mentally and emotionally on campus.
The series aims to give those working on mental health issues on campus a chance to reach out to let Billikens know that there are friends, faculty and staff members who are here to help.
Story by Amelia Flood, University Marketing and Communications