Student-athletes’ mental health topic of summit

Agroup from Westminster College participated in a Mental Health Summit for the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) in January, sharing stories and concern for the mental health issues of college student-athletes.

Representing Westminster at the two-day event at the Fred Rogers Institute at Saint Vincent College were senior studentathletes Morgan Byers ’23 (golf) and Sabrina Slagle ’23 (tennis). Tammy Swearingen, head women’s volleyball coach, senior associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator; Girish Thakar, head men’s and women’s soccer coach; and Misty Motter, associate athletic trainer, also participated.

The event was developed as a fellowship between the PAC, Saint Vincent and the Fred Rogers Institute with a focus and interest in the mental health needs and challenges of studentathletes. Student-athletes and athletic administrators, faculty members, coaches and athletic trainers from all 11 full PAC institutions attended.

“I struggled tremendously through the pandemic with my mental health and I felt like I could finally share why in a public forum,” said Slagle. “The mental health of a collegiate studentathlete is something that we have needed to advocate for much earlier, especially after the effects of COVID-19 visibly put a strain on students’ mental health all over the world. I am grateful this summit happened.”

The summit was led by neuropsychologist Dr. Becky Zill, the Citrone Family Fellow for Mental Health and Wellness at the Fred Rogers Institute, and Dr. Dana Winters, The Rita M. McGinley Endowed Executive Director of the Fred Rogers Institute. Zill, who specializes in concussions and brain injuries, is a former Division I student-athlete and a former Division III head coach.

“It was incredibly beneficial hearing other students share their first-hand experiences with the anxiety and other outside stressors that come with being a student-athlete,” said Byers. “It was also a great experience bonding with other student-athletes. The summit allowed you to see them as people who have difficulties in their day-to-day lives and not just as competitors.”

After learning from the student-athletes and other attendees, the next steps will be the development of an action plan that can be instituted by PAC athletics programs to better support their student-athletes.