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.

Gratitude for education, experiences at WCU inspire decades of support for Catamount athletics

By Bill Studenc

For chemical industry executive Kenny Messer, who grew up in rural Haywood County plowing tobacco fields behind a mule, providing philanthropic support to Western Carolina University is a way to show appreciation for an institution that saved him from a future of staring at the north end of a southbound pack animal.

Named president and chief executive officer in July 2022 of HarperLove, which produces specialty adhesives, performance additives and wet-strength resins, Messer has often credited the education and experiences he received as a first-generation college student at WCU with setting him on the path to success.

That’s why he has consistently contributed to his alma mater annually since earning his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1986, with a total lifetime giving tally of more than $325,000 – most of it directed toward support for WCU athletics. Together with partner Melanie Clark, Messer recently made gifts and pledges totaling $100,000 to go toward much-needed renovations of the university’s athletics facilities.

WCU Chancellor Kelli R. Brown characterized Messer as someone who has been willing to contribute to the university not just financially but also through his leadership and service over the years.

“Kenny is a unique alumnus who has made WCU a philanthropic priority every year since he graduated 38 years ago and who also has shared his time and his talent through his service on several university boards,” Brown said. “Together, Kenny and Mel are super supporters in every sense of the word, including their important work as active members of the steering committee that is guiding our Fill the Western Sky comprehensive fundraising campaign.”

The $75 million Fill the Western Sky 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 help fund those specific upgrades. Messer said he is glad to be able to contribute to the effort as part of his ongoing philanthropy.

Recipient of the WCU Alumni Association’s Professional Achievement Award in 2018, Messer shared his story at an annual Senior Toast Tuesday, April 23, for graduating students who are members of the 1889 Club. A giving society named after the year of the university’s founding, the 1889 Club recognizes donors for gifts made to the Fund for WCU on an annual basis. Students can join the society for contributions as small as $18.89 a year.

“WCU changed my life and enabled me to have a successful professional career,” Messer said prior to the event. “Athletics is the façade of the university to the outside world. It’s critical we have athletic programs and facilities that allow the university to accurately reflect our mission as a top-tier regional comprehensive university.”

As members of the Fill the Western Sky Campaign Steering Committee, Messer and Clark say they have seen firsthand the need for enhancements to facilities used by Catamount student-athletes.

“We have incredible student-athletes and coaches, but the athletic facilities are severely lagging compared to other institutions in the Southern Conference. Facilities matter for recruiting, athletic performance and fan pride. Mel and I continue to support athletics through annual giving and the Catamount Club, but it’s imperative we also raise capital to enhance and build our infrastructure,” Messer said.

Clark agreed. “The WCU campus is a gem in a beautiful area of the world,” she said. “We have world-class faculty, staff and coaches and incredible students. It’s time that we have the same level of excellence with our athletic facilities. This can be a source of pride for our community, which will only enhance the experience and help continue to draw the best to Western.”

The university has undergone numerous facilities improvements for academics and student life in recent years, but there have been no major construction or renovation projects for athletics since the mid-2000s. West Side Stands were added to E.J. Whitmire Stadium in 2003. The Catamount Athletic Complex – home to women’s tennis, women’s soccer, and men’s and women’s track and field – went up in 2005, and the Catamount Softball Complex opened in 2006.

“We need upgraded and new facilities, which will allow our student-athletes to reach their fullest potential,” said Messer. “I want to see a place of pride for our fans when they attend sporting events.”

The fundraising campaign with its emphasis on financial support for athletics facilities improvement comes at a critical time in the rapidly changing world of intercollegiate sports, Clark said.

“College athletics is at a crossroads; however, Western has never veered from the mission of preparing all our students for success in life. It’s time we also provide our student-athletes the tools to be successful in their chosen athletic field,” she said.

Messer and Clark also are supporting WCU student-athletes in ways beyond their financial contributions. They recently hosted the Catamount women’s golf team at the Reynolds Lake Oconee Invitational and the WCU men’s golf team in the Southern Conference Championship, both held in Greensboro, Georgia, where they reside.

“We want to do our part in helping prepare these young women and men for not only success on the field or court, but in the game of life,” Messer said. “Any experiences we can share to help support the personal and professional growth of a student is rewarding for both parties.”

Although she is not an alumna of WCU, Clark said she has embraced the university and its athletics program and is eager to join Messer in supporting the Catamounts.

“We consider Western an extension of us. Everyone has always welcomed me and made me feel part of the Western family,” she said. “Kenny’s demonstrated commitment to this university runs deep, as evidenced by his participation in so many leadership activities. At Western, I feel like I personally can make a difference in our students’ lives. This is powerful and a motivating factor.”

Clark shared a personal example of how supporters of WCU athletics can have a lasting impact on student-athletes. “Several years ago, I had the opportunity to meet a Western women’s softball pitcher. Western was a long distance from her home, which didn’t allow her parents to attend her games,” she said.

“When I learned this, I made an effort to attend games to support her. This created a lasting bond with her. Now today, many years later, we are still friends and remain in contact,” Clark said. “Overall, just to see the faces of our athletes when you are there personally to cheer them on and support them is a wonderful experience.”

Messer spent almost 30 years with Milliken Chemical Co. before joining Sartomer Americas at Arkema in 2014. He served as president of Arkema Coasting Resins Americas beginning September 2019 before joining the executive leadership team at HarperLove in 2022.

He is a former member of the WCU Board of Trustees, and former member and president of the WCU Alumni Association Board of Directors and Catamount Club Board of Directors. He served on the committees that conducted national searches leading to the appointments of the university’s current chancellor, Kelli R. Brown, and former chancellor David O. Belcher, and he was a member of WCU’s 2020 Vision Strategic Planning Committee.

Messer, who counts the WCU football team’s victory over Furman in the playoffs in 1983 to advance to the national championship game as his favorite Catamount sports memory, encouraged other alumni, fans and community members to participate in the Fill the Western Sky campaign.

“I challenge all our fans, friends and alumni to step up and support the campaign,” he said. “Western exudes excellence in so many ways. It’s now time to let that excellence shine through in our athletics facilities.”

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