Inaugural NJ Higher Ed Mental Health Summit Held at Seton Hall

By Jim Pytell, Managing Editor On Jan 10, 2024

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 5 adults currently live with a mental illness.

Today, Seton Hall hosted the inaugural New Jersey Higher Education Mental Health Summit, which saw staff from more than 40 New Jersey colleges and universities and mental health professionals come together to share best practices and support college students’ mental wellbeing.

“I know firsthand the pressure and stress college can hold on a student, which is why equipping them with the resources they need to support their mental health and well-being is a priority,” Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way said to the crowd of nearly 500 in attendance. “I am happy to see so many colleges and universities join together to identify best practices to better serve their students. Tackling the student mental health crisis will be a collaborative effort and events like the New Jersey Higher Education Mental Health Summit are a great step towards that goal.”

Seton Hall Interim President Katia Passerini said one of the goals of the summit is to offer the opportunity for inter-institution collaboration to help combat the student mental health crisis.

“Students’ well-being is of paramount importance,” she said. “I am grateful to our team and today’s participants for sharing mental health best practices in ways that will surely benefit students and the thousands who will follow them.”

“I applaud the effort from so many institutions across our state to come together for an unprecedented day of learning and sharing on topics that are critical to the well-being of our students,” said Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway. “It is a testament to higher education in New Jersey that so many student-facing staff from our schools will collaborate on such an important initiative.”

Throughout the day, attendees participated in breakout sessions that explored topics ranging from the impact of The Madison Holleran Suicide Prevention Act Amendment on college campuses; to promoting psychological wellbeing for first generation students; to fostering a positive mental health culture; and many more.

Darryl McDaniels, founding member of the hip hop group Run-DMC gave a keynote address in which he shared his own story of battling suicidal thoughts, alcoholism, and depression.

McDaniels said that despite his professional success, at age 35, he planned to kill himself, as depression continued to mount, and his mental health continued to deteriorate as he battled obstacles and adversity in his personal life.

He said that around the same time, he also found out that he was adopted, which compounded his already tattered mental state.

Some time after this, while on tour, McDaniels was introduced to a woman who also happened to be adopted.

“It let me know I wasn’t the only one. That I wasn’t alone,” he said. For McDaniels, the conversations he had with that adopted woman brought him to the realization that there are resources – people, places and things – that can help you with whatever you are going through.

This led McDaniels to go to rehab, which in turn introduced him to therapy, which he credits as one of the most powerful things he has ever done in his life.

“The thing that got me here today, after all that I’ve been through, is therapy,” McDaniels said. “I was finally able to talk about how I feel. I could go in and be angry, I could cry, I could ask questions and not feel ashamed of everything that I was feeling.”

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