Public Speaking

persuasive Speeches (^279)
The phone rings. You answer it, and suddenly the world stops. You have just become one
of the thousands of college students experiencing the grief of losing a loved one.
On September 13, 2006, my life changed forever when it was my phone that rang.
My dad was gone. I was 18.
As a student and Resident Assistant, I know many other people on our campus who
are grieving. Somehow we find each other.
To deal with my grief, I went to the Health and Counseling Center and asked for a
grief specialist. There were no resources for me. I got a doctoral student in psychology
who told me I was fine.
Freud did not believe that normal bereavement is a pathological disturbance
requiring professional intervention. In his 1917 essay, “Mourning and Melancholia,” he
argued that mourning is our reaction to a loss, but we eventually form new attachments
and move on without professional help. But I believe he was wrong, and today, I will
prove it. I will show that there is a significant and compelling need for grief specialists in
the campus Health and Counseling Center. Then I’ll outline a plan that will solve this
problem.
How extensive is the problem? The number of undergraduates dealing with grief
is substantial. In a spring 2008 article in the journal New Directions for Student Services,
David Balk, the leading researcher in the field of college student bereavement, asserts
that at any given time, 20–30 percent of college undergraduates are in the first twelve
months of grieving the death of a family member or friend. The National Students
of Ailing Mothers and Fathers (AMF) Support Network, initiated at Georgetown
University, says that between 35 and 48 percent of college students are dealing with
a death that occurred within the previous two years. Counselors at Kansas State
University, Oklahoma State University, City University of New York, and the University
of Arizona estimate that grief is a defining issue in the lives of no fewer than 50 percent
of the students on their respective campuses.
One reason is the mortality rates on college campuses. The numbers are somewhat
difficult to assess, but 5,000 to 18,750 students nationwide die annually. That’s about
4 to 15 per 10,000. Most deaths are vehicle accidents. Our own small campus has had
two traffic fatalities, plus one drowning in recent years. And last year, a popular profes-
sor died of cancer. In addition, many students have parents or other close relatives and
friends who are struggling against terminal illnesses.
In an often-cited article, “College Student Loss and Response, Coping with Death
on Campus,” Louis E. LaGrand, professor of health science at the State University of
Arts and Science, Potsdam, New York, argues that colleges and student communities too
often dismiss the serious and continuing impact of unresolved grief among young adults.
My goal today is not to depress you with staggering statistics, but to assure you that
there is a need that we should address. Irreparable loss can devastate any young adult.
Now that we know some of the numbers, let’s look at five areas affected by grief:
physical, behavioral, interpersonal, cognitive, and spiritual.
Physical effects include insomnia and exhaustion. Insomnia is especially significant
during the first twenty-four months of bereavement. That’s the first two years! Grieving
students also suffer from exhaustion as a result of the emotional struggle they are going
through.
There are behavioral effects as well. Students struggle to stay organized, manage
their time, and meet deadlines. They lose their typical patterns of conduct as they try to
absorb the loss of the loved one.
Interpersonal effects result when friends dismiss the intensity and duration of the
grief cycle and begin to shun the griever. Let’s face it, ongoing grief is uncomfortable to
be around.
There are also cognitive effects. Grieving students have problems concentrating,
studying, and remembering what they’ve studied, which has obvious effects on grades
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