On May 28, shortly after the conclusion of exams and our departure from campus, MiddSafe advocates received a letter from the Health and Wellness Education (HWE) office titled “Changes to MiddSafe & Mental Health Peer Educators – Your Eyes and Response Needed!” This email explained that for a variety of reasons, the MiddSafe hotline was going to be shut down, effective immediately, and that our group was to be merged with the Mental Health Peer Educators (MHPEs), another campus resource run by HWE, into the new Peers Educating for Affirming Relationships (PEARs). MiddSafe provided a one-of-a-kind service to Middlebury students: A 24/7 confidential hotline, staffed by students, for those impacted by sexual violence. In quietly shutting down MiddSafe, Middlebury removed a unique resource and overlooked the importance of student input, highlighting the need for greater transparency in decisions that affect the community.
As a group we were shocked, saddened, and ultimately angered by the news of MiddSafe’s closure, which we had not had any knowledge of prior to the email. We had known that call volume was decreasing, that staffing and funding issues plagued the Health and Wellness Education office, and that MHPEs were struggling with low engagement and interest from students. We had spent the spring semester discussing how to promote awareness of interpersonal violence at Middlebury and brainstorming ways to connect with our peers and ensure they were aware of the resources available to them. We had recruited a new class of advocates to be trained. In short, we had no say in the decision to shut down the hotline nor did we have any knowledge it was a decision that was even under consideration.
Throughout our time as MiddSafe advocates, both in our discussions this spring and in previous trainings, we consistently raised the idea of surveying our peers to better understand what this campus wants and needs in terms of mental health support and sexual violence prevention. We feel that student input and engagement is crucial to the success of any program that aims to improve student experience and safety, and MiddSafe was no exception. How can we support our peers without knowing what type of support our peers need? If MiddSafe is not the resource students want, what kind of peer-led resource would they find helpful? Our supervisors at HWE shut down any conversation about soliciting feedback from our fellow students.
This inability to ask questions and listen for answers seems to be pervasive within HWE. Year after year, the office offers the same events such as “Be Our Valentine” and “Campus Trick or Treat” that are often poorly attended and hardly register on the radar of the majority of the student body. Funds that are allocated towards improving student mental health supports are instead spent on well-intended but ill-conceived awareness weeks that generally lack programming that directly supports students. Student mental health support is incredibly important and the way Middlebury currently addresses it is out of touch with what the student body actually needs.
This is epitomized in the decision to shut down the MiddSafe hotline. At no point in time did HWE involve us, let alone the greater student body, in their deliberations. The decision was made by HWE and college staff and announced to advocates in an email after we had departed campus, and then not even mentioned to our peers until this fall.
As we have returned to campus and shared with our classmates that MiddSafe no longer exists, they are shocked and then angry; they are confused why a resource so essential and well-known was unceremoniously shut down without any announcement, warning, or discussion. What we have learned from these conversations with our peers is that the MiddSafe hotline served an important function beyond what was outlined on our website. Not only did we provide a 24-hour confidential peer-to-peer hotline, but we represented constant support for students in crisis. Students who never planned on using our service were comforted by the knowledge we existed. Our existence was proof that Middlebury cared. But because students were excluded from discussions about the future of the hotline and decisions were made behind closed doors, the student body has been left shocked and angry, and no one more so than us.
We know that events such as the shut down of the hotline don’t happen in a vacuum and that we, as students, can not fully grasp the many factors involved in developing and sustaining programs such as MiddSafe. The Health and Wellness Education office fulfills an essential purpose on campus and we value the work they do. What we ask is for a window into how these decisions are made and a word with those who make them. We want a say. If students are to feel seen, heard, and supported at Middlebury, they cannot be ignored.
