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. 

Ex-football player makes $150K gift to WCU athletics facilities after tour reveals few upgrades in 40 years

By Bill Studenc

When John S. Martin returns to Western Carolina University on Saturdays in the fall to watch a college football game, the former four-year starter on the Catamount offensive line notices that E.J. Whitmire Stadium looks much like it did during his playing days in the late 1980s.

That’s why Martin, a 1990 graduate of WCU with a bachelor’s degree in business law who now serves as principal adviser with the CAPTRUST financial advisory firm in Raleigh, is making gifts and pledges totaling $150,000 to help improve athletics facilities at his alma mater.

“The facilities really haven’t changed at all since I was a student-athlete,” he said. “The locker rooms are a little nicer now, but that’s about it. We have a long way to go to catch up. The stadium is in big, big need of repair. The same concrete foundation that was poured back in the 1970s when the stadium was built is still there, and it’s past time for an upgrade.”

As a current member of the WCU Foundation Board of Directors and past member of the Board of Visitors, Martin has gone behind the scenes for repeated firsthand looks at the state of all of the university’s athletics infrastructure.

“Between the Board of Visitors and the Foundation Board, I got to tour and see all of the sports teams’ facilities – not just the football stadium, but seeing where track and field is housed at the old Camp Lab Gymnasium. Frankly, it’s pitiful. We have so many needs athletically. I know that there are other big needs throughout the university, but it really showed me what needs to be done for athletics,” said Martin, who chairs the Foundation Board’s finance and audit committee.

“I’ve come to realize the need and just how woeful our facilities are. We’ve got the ultimate canvas to paint on in Cullowhee with the Blue Ridge Mountains as our backdrop. We are going to need everybody pulling together, but we can do it. We’ll be able to do even bigger and better things,” he said.

Martin’s contributions are part of WCU’s $75 million comprehensive fundraising campaign titled “Fill the Western Sky.” The campaign has a significant focus on raising money to support enhancements to athletics facilities, with a goal of raising at least $30 million in philanthropic gifts to support those specific upgrades.

“John’s passion for Western Carolina to be great is as deep as it was during his playing days,” said Alex Gary, WCU director of athletics. “We are so thankful for his continued leadership and support of Catamount Athletics through this most recent commitment.”

Recruited by legendary coach Bob Waters, Martin came to WCU on a football scholarship and, after taking a medical redshirt his first year, became a four-year starter as left offensive tackle. “I was too skinny to play offensive line in college, but I think I was given the opportunity because I played really hard, I had good technique, and they figured I would bulk up,” he said. “I played for four years for Coach Waters. It was just one of the greatest blessings of my life.”

Martin began making contributions to the Catamount Club and other WCU athletics areas shortly after graduating, increasing his philanthropy as he progressed in his career. But it was a meeting with then-Chancellor David Belcher that led to his first large gift. In 2017, he made gifts totaling $25,000 to establish the John S. Martin Football Endowed Scholarship to provide financial support for student-athletes on the Catamount football team.

“I’ve always felt a need to give back in consideration of the opportunities that Western gave to me, but what really jolted me and got me jumpstarted back to Western was David Belcher,” Martin said. “He understood that Western needed to begin raising money and needed to start adding money to our endowment.”

During Belcher’s tenure, the university embarked upon only its second comprehensive fundraising campaign. Titled “Lead the Way,” that effort focused on raising money for endowed scholarships to help a larger number of deserving students be able to meet the costs of a college education. The current campaign is WCU’s first with a significant focus on support for athletics.

“Athletics are important. They are the front porch of the house. It helps prime the pump to do other things that we want to do academically and in terms of research,” Martin said.

Among the priorities of the comprehensive fundraising campaign 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. The Catamounts will look to vacate Camp Lab Gymnasium and open a new facility to support the golf, track and field, and women’s soccer programs. Other improvements are in the master plan as well and will benefit all 16 Catamount athletics teams.

“I truly can see around the corner, and I see what Western is getting ready to do and what we’re about to become. We’re about to become a championship-caliber university in terms of athletics. I feel like we’re already well on our way academically,” Martin said.

“Western is in a very, very key, prime position. If you’re somebody who wants to get on the bandwagon before it takes off, now is the time to get involved in Western Carolina. It is getting ready to blow up in a beautiful way,” he said.

Martin pointed to recent successes in Catamount athletics, including the women’s golf team, which collected four team championships during the 2022-2023 season and accepted an invitation to play in a postseason tournament, and the women’s soccer team, which won regular season and Southern Conference tournament championships in 2023.

“With Alex Gary, we’re making fantastic decisions from a personnel standpoint. (Football coach} Kerwin Bell is outstanding, and I’m so pleased with the job he’s doing. (Men’s basketball coach) Justin Gray is magnificent,” he said. “We’re making some really, really good personnel decisions, and with the Fill the Western Sky campaign, we’re going to be raising the money to have the facilities to match that excellence. When that happens, get on board or get out of the way.”

Martin encouraged fellow alumni and former student-athletes to participate in the Fill the Western Sky campaign.

“If you’ve been out of Western for one or two years, get into the habit of giving. Saving for your retirement is a habit. Exercise is a habit. Eating right is a habit. Feeding the cats is a habit. You have to feed the cats. If you can just get into that rhythm of giving back early on and then do so each year, then as you can, challenge yourself to do more,” he said.

“If I have my way, this is just the beginning for me,” he said. “I intend to do a lot more for Western as I grow and as I get older, because it doesn’t end. Western is going to need the aid. It’s going to take all of us. It’s going to take the entire alumni base.”

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