Bethune-Cookman University News February 2012 B-CU Awarded Garrett Lee Smith Suicide Prevention Grant Office of Public Relations Meredith Rodriguez Associate Director, Communications & Marketing rodriguezm@cookman.edu 386-481-2991 386-481-2973 Bethune-Cookman University recently announced that it has been awarded $102,000 annually for the next three years for the Garrett Lee Smith Suicide Prevention Grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services. Through this grant, B-CU will provide suicide awareness prevention and intervention to the entire campus community, including faculty, staff and students. Programs will include educational seminars, workshops and training opportunities. Additionally, the University will establish partnerships with Stewart-Marchman Act, Halifax Behavioral Services and other local mental health agencies. This network of services will be known as Project STEPS - Survival Through Education Prevention and Services. "This grant is important because it allows us to be intentional about addressing these issues through multiple methodologies," notes Cynthia Polk-Johnson, B-CU's associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students. "Our Counseling Center will serve as the hub for the dissemination of information and dissemination of information and services to faculty, staff, students, parents and local mental health providers." Project STEPS objectives include: Providing QPR (question, persuade, refer) training to gatekeepers, students and their parents Facilitating educational seminars and cultural diversity workshops to students, their parents, faculty and staff on the myths and stigma associated with suicide and depression Promoting help-seeking behaviors within the student body by replacing the negative attitudes of behavioral health systems held by many African Americans Distributing informational literature on suicide and depression throughout the campus and at organized student activities Strengthening the relationships of off-campus community behavioral health providers Providing educational information to parents on campus, over the internet, through mail and a campus-wide suicide hotline. To support the grant's initiatives, the B-CU Office of Student Affairs will be hiring two full-time staff members and will train peer educators positions to assist with the grant. The staff positions are posted on B-CU's human resources web page. Visit www.cookman.edu. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/2012meeting-form.html for the October 21-23, 2012 HBCU Library Alliance 5th Membership Meeting and the Photographic Preservation Pre-Conference in New Orleans, LA. The Pre-Conference and Membership meeting are open to directors and other librarians.