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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2020
VOLUME 115 ISSUE 12
Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
Not officially associated with the University of Florida
Is it enough? UF students ask for more mental health services
CWC FUNDING CRITICISMS HAVE COMPOUNDED AS STUDENTS EXPRESS DISSATISFACTION WITH THE STATE OF THE PROGRAM
By Jack Prator Alligator Staff Writer
Editor’s note: This article contains a reference to suicidal thoughts. Students were granted anonymity for reasons including the sensitivity of the topic and their ongoing interactions with the CWC. “U Matter, We Care” is the slogan adopted by UF’s Counseling & Wellness Center. It feels like an empty gesture to some students who have sought out the center’s services. Students’ experiences vary, with accounts of long wait times, feelings of being brushed off by CWC counselors and a lack of transparency about UF’s available resources. The CWC director said he feels confident in the center’s ability to help students but cites its tight budget as an obstacle — one that it is starting to overcome. Despite a larger staff than previous semesters, shorter wait times and an increase in state funding, CWC appointment numbers have plateaued after a previously steady increase since 2016. The center has conducted 8,891 appointments through the week of Nov. 2 this semester. This is a decrease of 1% from the same 10week mark in Fall 2019, CWC director Ernesto Escoto said. This number of student clients fell from 5,800 students in the 2018-19 year to 5,395 in 2019-20, a decrease of 7%. The COVID-19 pandemic created more obstacles for the center in the Spring. The CWC closed after classes went online in early March. Students said they either continued counseling virtually, were dropped by their counselor or gave up on getting one. The center trained employees in tele-mental health counseling, which relies on connecting virtually with patients, and reopened in a new online format in two and a half weeks.
SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT Trask for Heisman
Escoto said program directors began researching virtual counseling alternatives, setting up technology and training staff to jumpstart their tele-mental health services as soon as UF moved online. The center dipped into its savings to pay for these unforeseen expenses. He expects that remote CWC services are not just a temporary solution to the challenges of the pandemic. “We’re kind of surprised that it actually works,” Escoto said. “It’s been pretty effective in a lot of spaces. And so, there is no reason for us to go back to fully providing everything in person.” He said he expects to see a hybrid option developed, when it is safe to do so in light of the pandemic, with the hope it provides better flexibility for students. After being on the waitlist for two weeks, a 19-year-old UF astrophysics sophomore said she saw a CWC counselor for four months before the pandemic hit. It was then that she said her counselor informed her that she couldn’t see her anymore because campus was shutting down due to increasing COVID-19 cases. “I never heard from her again,” the student said. She didn’t receive any followups from the CWC about telehealth visits, which would begin two and a half weeks after UF moved online. She visited the CWC during Fall 2019. She said she had severe depression and anxiety symptoms that kept her in bed some days. One day, when she had enough energy, she said she met with a CWC counselor for a crisis walkin, where students in need of immediate support can speak with a counselor. “She basically told me ‘Your problems seem way too complex for us to address here,’” the student said. She said she was given the local and national suicide hotline numbers and sent on her way. She later discovered the Instructor Notification process, which informs professors about an emergency a student is dealing with; medical withdrawal, which
Gators quarterbackfinish Kyle with Traskcomma, is doing Story description pg#his due diligence to bring the Heisman Trophy back to UF and become the fourth Florida quarterback with a bronze statue of himself in front of The Swamp, pg. 10
SEE CWC, PAGE 6
Lauren Witte // Alligator Staff
Jerome, 5, leans on the coin pusher at the Oaks Mall Carnival on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2020.
‘Be bold’: UF student becomes youngest elected official in Florida NATE DOUGLAS WON 49% OF THE VOTE AFTER LEADING A CAMPAIGN FOCUSED ON SUSTAINABILITY AND CLIMATE CHANGE
By Avery Lotz Alligator Contributing Writer
Nate Douglas shuffled into his family’s kitchen one morning in 2008 to greet his mother and father. The then-8-year-old said he found them standing still at the
counter. The three didn’t talk but instead communicated through stares. He followed the invisible line from their forlorn gazes to a stack of unopened envelopes in front of them. The tower of paper grew every day, taunting the family of five supported by the salaries of a teacher and a landscaper. The memories of the Great Recession still motivate the now 19-year-old Douglas. They even pushed him to run — and win — elected office. Douglas, an Orlando native and UF economics junior, became Or-
Navigating dating apps in the time of COVID-19
UF freshmen are figuring out how to safely meet friends and potential partners through a screen — and a mask, pg. 2
UF community comes together to support Honduras The Central American country was hit by Hurricane Eta last week. UF students fundraised to support those affected, pg. 4
ange County’s Soil and Water Conservation District 1 supervisor-elect on Nov. 3, defeating two opponents — both of whom are more than a decade his senior. Douglas won 49% of the vote after leading a campaign focused on sustainability and climate change. He’s the youngest person in Orange County history to hold the position and the youngest elected official in Florida. Douglas will serve a four-year-term as a nonpartisan su-
SEE NATE DOUGLAS, PAGE 3
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