Universities and colleges across the United States are finding that an ever-increasing number of students on their campuses are dealing with a variety of mental health issues, ranging from anxiety and depression to thoughts of suicide.

Recent studies and surveys indicate that nearly 45 percent of college students nationally report symptoms of depression, while almost 40 percent report experiencing anxiety.

Perhaps most concerning – up to 15 percent of college students have contemplated suicide. U.S. campuses report that approximately 1,100 students take their own lives each year, making suicide the second-leading cause of death among that demographic.

Western Carolina University is not immune from this growing mental health crisis. Thanks to a significant financial contribution from a WCU alumna, the university’s Counseling and Psychology Services Center now will be able to increase its evaluation and treatment of students struggling with depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions.

Rebecca Schlosser, a 1973 graduate of WCU and former member of the university’s Board of Trustees, recently made a transformative gift to WCU that will enable the center to greatly enhance its services by expanding access, increasing outreach and strengthening its ability to support student well-being.

“For me personally, mental health awareness came to the forefront when my son began struggling with mental health issues in 2007 and 2008 during his junior and senior year in college,” said Schlosser, a resident of Greensboro.

That son, David Edmond Wesley Schlosser, died unexpectedly at the age of 25, just nine days after graduating from Elon University.

“Students need to feel comfortable receiving mental health services,” Schlosser said. “College campuses should prioritize destigmatizing mental health, offering accessible resources and creating a supportive environment. Many times, mental health issues begin in early adulthood, which falls right during the college years. Dealing with the demands of college can add increased anxiety.”

She and her late husband, Greensboro attorney and former Guilford County District Attorney Michael A. Schlosser, made gifts in 2016 to create the David E. W. Schlosser Endowed Scholarship Fund in their son’s memory to provide support for students with demonstrated financial need in WCU’s Brinson Honors College.

They also agreed that they wanted to do something more to provide much-needed resources to WCU to help the university in its efforts to provide services to students struggling with mental health issues, in part to help parents and other family members avoid the heartache that they endured with the loss of their son.

The Schlossers later updated their financial plans to include a commitment to create an endowment to support the work of WCU’s Counseling and Psychological Services Center, a commitment that was fulfilled earlier this year.

In recognition of the gift establishing a program endowment for the center often referred to as CAPS, the university’s Board of Trustees has approved the facility’s renaming to the Schlosser Family Center for Counseling and Psychological Services.

The Schlosser Family Center for Counseling and Psychological Services has a mission of empowering students to engage in and be successful in a range of academic, social and cultural endeavors through fostering psychological wellness. The center provides individual and group counseling to students on a short-term basis at no cost as well as emergency services when a student is experiencing a mental health crisis. It is located in Suite 225 in the Bird Building and reaches beyond its physical office by offering tele-mental health services and appointments at WCU’s Biltmore Park off-campus instructional site.

Over the past few years, the center has consistently offered more than 7,000 appointments to an average of approximately 1,100 individual students annually, said Kim Gorman, associate vice chancellor for health and wellness.

Despite those numbers, the center has not experienced a significant increase in student usage of its services, which is most likely related to a limit in the ability to serve a larger number of students given current staffing restraints, said Caroline Engler, CAPS director. But the center has seen significant increases over the last three years in the severity and complexity of mental health issues presented by student clients, Engler said.

“Our data is consistent with Center for Collegiate Mental Health data in that we continue to see a rise in reported experiences of history of trauma. Additionally, according to CCMH data, WCU students report more frequent and intense experiences with depression, anxiety, eating concerns and suicidal ideation as compared to the national average,” she said.

“Although our students report higher levels of acuity than the national average, our data also indicates that, with treatment, they report more significant declines in experiences of suicidal ideation and overall distress than the CCMH national averages,” Engler said.

An official naming ceremony for the Schlosser Family Center for Counseling and Psychological Services is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 4. Fittingly, September is National Suicide Prevention Month.

“Renaming CAPS is more than just changing the name,” Rebecca Schlosser said. “I speak also on behalf of my late husband. It was our goal to provide this endowed funding to support WCU’s Counseling and Psychological Services and to help to destigmatize the challenges surrounding mental health. Our family wishes to help shine a bright light of hope along this very difficult pathway,” Rebecca Schlosser said.

“To the students at WCU, if you feel you need mental health support, I encourage you to seek services at the Schlosser Family Center for Counseling and Psychological Services,” she said. “You are not alone.”

The Schlosser contribution will enable the center to greatly increase the level of counseling and other psychological services it offers and improve and expand its training program so that additional providers will be able to more adequately address the growing need for mental health services at WCU.

Numerous factors are playing a role in the rise of mental health issues in the United States in recent years, said Engler.

“There is a trend that individuals who seek treatment at university counseling centers have been engaged in treatment prior to coming to college. This tells us that their distress levels are affecting individuals in middle and high schools,” she said.

The global COVID-19 pandemic is frequently cited as one primary source of the increase in mental health issues among young people, causing uncertainty and fear of the unknown, disrupting social connections and interrupting academic schedules, Engler said.

“However, the pandemic simply intersected with other ongoing social factors including the divisiveness we are seeing in our communities – and in our families. This is having an impact on our sense of community and belongingness, both factors that are essential for good mental health,” she said. “Furthermore, research shows the impact of social media has been problematic and contributing to mental health symptoms. Finally, there is much evidence of the impact of sleep disruption, often caused by excessive cell phone use and gaming, on mental health symptoms for teens.”

The additional services made possible by the Schlosser gift will help a larger number of students receive the mental health services they need to be able to stay enrolled in school and on track to graduate, said Gorman.

A 2023 research project conducted by Gorman and WCU colleague Kathleen Brennan, professor of sociology, found that students who seek help for their mental health issues are more likely to persist in their educational journey.

“We know that our services are helpful for retention of students as demonstrated by our recent study. The results indicate a higher number of counseling sessions was helpful in retention efforts for all students at the university,” Gorman said. “So, this gift is an investment in our students.”

Gorman and Brennan published the results of their study in a paper titled “More Sessions Make a Difference: University Counseling Centers and Student Retention” in the June 2023 edition of the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice.

“We just feel immense gratitude,” Gorman said. “This gift is an incredible acknowledgement of the importance of mental health services at WCU.”

Rebecca Schlosser earned her bachelor’s degree in education. While a student at WCU, she was a member of Delta Zeta sorority, spent four years as a majorette with the marching band, and was a member of both Kappa Delta Pi and Alpha Phi Sigma honor societies. The WCU chapter of Phi Delta Kappa named her Most Outstanding Female Student at WCU her senior year.

After completing her undergraduate studies, she taught at a private all-girls school in New York before returning to school at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, earning her master’s degree in education there in 1983. During her time at UNCG, she met her future husband and helped him start his law firm.

Mike Schlosser was a graduate of Virginia Military Institute and Wake Forest University School of Law. He died in February 2024, 10 years after he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and amyloidosis as a result of his exposure to Agent Orange as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Paratrooper Corps serving a tour in South Vietnam.

Rebecca Schlosser served on the WCU Board of Trustees from 2017 until 2023 and formerly served on the university’s Foundation Board of Directors and Board of Visitors. A member of the Madison Legacy and Cullowhee giving societies, she served on the steering committee for WCU’s previous “Lead the Way” comprehensive fundraising campaign. She is an involved member of the Triad alumni chapter and frequently hosts Triad-area events at her Greensboro home. The Schlossers have been annual donors to WCU since 1990.

The naming of the Schlosser Family Center for Counseling and Psychological Services comes as WCU is in the midst of the public phase of its “Fill the Western Sky” comprehensive fundraising campaign, an effort to raise a minimum of $100 million in philanthropic support for the university’s academic, student engagement and athletics programs.

For more information about the “Fill the Western Sky” campaign or to make a contribution, visit WesternSky.wcu.edu, call 828-227-7124 or email advancement@wcu.edu. 

Former player’s gridiron memories, love of WCU inspires support for athletics facilities improvements

By Bill Studenc

A former two-time Western Carolina University Academic All-American football player who still gets chills thinking back to his own gridiron glory days wants to help ensure that future Catamount student-athletes have similar experiences.

That’s why alumnus Mike Wade, longtime supporter of WCU, has made new gifts and pledges totaling $250,000, with $225,000 going toward the enhancement of the university’s athletics facilities and $25,000 to the Catamount Club.

“For me, there is nothing like college football,” said Wade, a 1977 business administration graduate. “It is such a gladiator sport, where participants learn the value of getting up after being knocked down. It is such a lesson in life. The more you pick yourself up, the more likely you are to succeed in your career and with your family.”

A former insurance executive who co-owns Rabbit Ridge student housing complex in Cullowhee and other real estate projects, Wade is among those making leadership gifts during the initial stages of WCU’s comprehensive fundraising campaign. As a key priority within the campaign goal, WCU aims to raise at least $30 million in philanthropic gifts to support upgrades to athletics facilities.

In addition, the university intends to fund another $30 million toward athletics facility improvements, financed by debt serviced from fees paid by WCU students. The WCU Student Government Association passed a resolution in 2021 supporting the use of increased student athletics fees for those improvements. Currently, no state-appropriated funds can be used to support intercollegiate athletics, including facilities, at any UNC institution.

“Mike and his wife, Regina, have been community champions here in Cullowhee for a long time,” said Alex Gary, director of athletics. “We are humbled by their willingness to step up once again, this time to support the university’s ambitious athletics facility plans.”

A member of the Catamount Club who attends most WCU home football games, Wade said he made his leadership gift because he recognizes the need. “These kids deserve the best facilities we can afford, and having first-class facilities will help our coaches recruit student-athletes,” he said. “It is obvious that our current facilities are severely lacking and need an upgrade.”

Wade played football at McDowell High School and signed a WCU football scholarship in 1972 – with the caveat that if he received a scholarship to play baseball elsewhere, he would opt for baseball. Wingate College offered that baseball scholarship, which Wade accepted. He had dreams of following in the footsteps of his father, who played professionally for the Chicago Cubs and Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers.

“After my first year at Wingate, it became clear to me that I was unlikely to play pro baseball and that football was the vehicle to get a college education made possible by an athletics scholarship,” said Wade, who transferred as a sophomore in 1974 and played defensive end for the Catamounts. That 1974 squad finished the regular season with nine wins and one loss, earning one of eight playoff spots for the College Division II Championship.

“We drew top-seed Louisiana Tech and played them in Ruston, Louisiana, over Thanksgiving weekend,” Wade said. “We lost 10-7 in the last minute of play. It was a great year for our team, but we lost a lot of senior leadership.”

Wade moved to linebacker the next season, and the Catamounts opened the 1975 season against Division 1 opponent Toledo. “We shocked them early and were leading 24-0 at half, but they had an All-American quarterback who led them back in the second half, and we lost 32-31. It set the tone for the season, and we never recovered,” he said.

Which sets up Wade’s favorite moment as a student-athlete, a memory he says continues to make hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention. Not surprisingly, it involves WCU’s former longtime rival, Appalachian State University.

“Going into the final game against Appalachian, our record was 2-7. The week before, we had lost to Furman 35-0, which was the most-humiliating loss I have ever suffered playing sports. App State that same weekend had beaten the University of South Carolina in Columbia and needed a win against us to earn a Tangerine Bowl bid,” Wade said.

Because of a rash of injuries, two WCU offensive players who had not even practiced defense that season started the game defensively, he said. App State was in the top 10 nationally in total offense, scoring 42 points against South Carolina.

“The Asheville Citizen-Times said the betting line on the game was the temperature at gametime. We were given no shot to win,” Wade said. “App State took the opening kickoff and drove the ball to the 2-yard line, where it was first-and-goal. Four downs later, the ball was still at the 2-yard line. It was game on.”

The Catamounts went on to score two fourth-quarter touchdowns and claim a 20-11 victory, the fifth consecutive win in WCU’s storied rivalry with App State. WCU held the Mountaineers to their lowest scoring total for the season, doing so with a patched-together defense rallied by a passionate home crowd.

“I can still vividly remember changing ends of the field after the third quarter and our fans giving our team a standing ovation,” Wade said. “Thinking of that moment gives me goosebumps almost 48 years later.” The upset was listed among the top moments in Catamount sports history in the 125th anniversary edition of The Magazine of Western Carolina University in 2014.

“I love Cullowhee and WCU,” he said. “From the time I arrived in the fall of 1974, I knew this was my real home. I wasn’t born here, but this was home. My college years were filled with wonderful relationships and incredible experiences, and I am forever grateful. I have had a love affair with this place for almost 49 years, and it’s not over yet.”

It is out of that love that Wade has made the university a focus of his philanthropy. In 2019, he made a $1 million planned gift to support WCU’s athletics and arts scholarships and programs.

“I like to support those individuals who strive to win every day in life and who never quit when they lose,” he said. “Nothing excites me more than being able to assist our kids in reaching their dreams. I like to help kids who are willing to work and excel in the classroom. Some of these kids come from difficult economic situations, and these are the kids I wish to help.”

Wade said he hopes other WCU friends and alumni will join him in supporting the university, especially through its comprehensive fundraising campaign. “Many of my classmates had great success in their chosen career. I would urge them – and many have – to make a difference in a kid’s life here at WCU. I would say to them, ‘choose to be the difference and contribute,’” he said.

Among the campaign priorities are expansions for strength and conditioning, sports medicine and academic space for student-athletes. Updates to E.J. Whitmire Stadium will include a new press box, premium space for fans, a rebuilt east concourse, football offices and meeting space, and a new football locker room. WCU will look to vacate Camp Lab Gymnasium and open a new facility for the golf, track and field, and women’s soccer programs. Other improvements in the master plan will benefit all 16 Catamount athletics teams.

For more information about how to support the Catamount athletics program, contact Julie Miller, associate athletics director for development, at 828-227-3084.