Following is a list of applicants for the Samaritan Awards and a brief description of the projects. Decisions were made by a Selection Committee which included two faculty members, two staff members, and a student. No member of the Committee was affiliated with the Suffolk University Counseling Center.

Samaritan Award Winner

Addressing Cultural Myths that Prevent Depression Knowledge

By: Associate Professor of Psychology Yvonne V. Wells, Associate Director of Diversity Services Wilma Arguinzoni, Director of Performing Arts Chris DeStefano, Psychology Department Graduate Students Fanta Atkinson, Neena Lewis, Julie Lee, Communications Major Pablo Rodriquez and Irene Shulova

The group consists of both students and faculty members. The issue that is addressed in this project is the psychological and counseling needs of certain cultural groups. The goal of this project is to increase the number of AHANA, international, and GLBT students who explore services provided by the ADAPT program. With the help of all members on our diverse and artistic team we hope to increase overall participation by a multicultural group of students on the Suffolk campus. Discussions conducted in focus groups will be based on the relationship between culture and depression and the willingness to seek treatment for depression. Anonymous responses to questionnaires will be used to generate conversation and will in turn produce a theme for a poster reflecting one culture's response to depression. The resulting poster will be displayed throughout campus. In the future, other posters will be created to highlight other cultural perspectives.

Samaritan Award Winner

Copains/Companeros

By: Professors in the Department of Modern Languages: Barbara Abrams, Marjorie Salvodon, Sandra Barriales-Bouche, and Celeste Kostopulos-Cooperman

This proposal is submitted by three faculty members in the department of Modern Languages. The faculty intend to address some of the needs of international students. They noted that foreign students, who arrive from abroad, often feel lonely and alienated. The faculty plan to use the grant money to support a program in which native speakers from French and Spanish speaking countries are brought together with American students for weekly discussion groups entitled Copains/Companeros. The groups will be student led and will be geared toward acculturation and learning. These weekly sessions will help to prevent the extreme feeling of alienation that foreign students often feel when living abroad, help bring two groups together, encourage self-determination through communication skills, and help to encourage Suffolk students to study abroad. The comforts of home will be provided in the groups, such as food and newspapers to help aid in the transition from one culture to the next. Communicative practice will be available from fellow students that help to form bonds with students who have experience living in the United States and Boston area.

Samaritan Award Winner

Harry's Christmas Benefit Performance

By: Wesley Savick/Coyote Theatre

Wesley Savick is an Associate Professor in the Theatre Department. He is the director of the Coyote Theatre, a small non-profit theatre founded in 1991 that is dedicated to the exploration of contemporary work. Professor Savick has proposed the idea of a public staged reading of Harry's Christmas. The play is a one-person dialogue that illuminates Harry's conflicting self-generated voices that escalate into self-destructive behaviors. The producer hopes to give the audience the opportunity to broaden their understanding of the experience of depression as well as their empathy and humanity for those who suffer from it. A post-performance discussion panel will also be incorporated to encourage discussion of the play and the issues it raises. This play will serve as a fundraising event for a local deserving non-profit organization and will help to solidify the alliance between Suffolk University, the Boston arts community, and the Boston mental health care community.

Samaritan Award Winner

"Raising Awareness"

By: Fine Arts Seminar Professor: Audrey Goldstein Students: Colleen Donovan, Sara Dzadik, Lindsay Hargis, Nichole Kaye, Sean Levisman, Shannon McManus, Matt Reilly, Pornsit Tangchitnob, Moira Thompson, & Meghan Turbitt

This proposal was developed by a professor and her students in a Fine Arts Seminar at the New England School of Art & Design at Suffolk University. The students were given the assignment to create an original artwork based on their research of the conditions and treatment of depression. These students feel that by using the visual arts, they may be able to provide education regarding the qualities of depression to people who typically do not take the time to get information through more traditional means. These proposed artworks would help to attract the general CAS community and provide an opportunity for enrichment. The group exhibition would be held on the main campus and consist of ten original artworks. There will be an opening reception with a discussion component. Additionally, a comment book will be placed within the exhibition, asking viewers to discuss the work and the issues covered in the content of the work. A photographic record of the exhibition will be made with accompanying support and written materials. This record will be given to the Counseling Center.

Samaritan Award - Honorable Mention

Perspectives

By: Suffolk University Law School Academic Support Program staff: Herb Ramy, Lisa Freudenheim, & Liz Stillman

The group is comprised of the staff that manages the Academic Support Program (ASP) at Suffolk University Law School. The staff conducts weekly classes focusing on a variety of topics and conducts seminars to aide in Legal Writing and Oral Presentations during the academic year. The group has recognized that Law students suffer from depression at a higher level than the general population as well as significantly higher levels of many aspects of psychological distress. The group has planned a two step approach to (1) educate students and faculty to recognize the symptoms of depression and where and when to get professional help, and (2) host stress reducing events during the school year and exam reading period. The goals of these strategies is to help students and faculty become more aware of the signs of depression and understand the ASP and the Counseling Center are valuable resources that can help maintain student success.

Samaritan Award - Honorable Mention

"The Depression Monologues"

By: Assistant Professor of Psychology Elisabeth Moes & Psychology Department Clinical Practicum Students: Megan Spencer, Ryan Haggarty, Carla Bernardes, Frances Tung, Carrie Landa, Jessica Benetti McQuoid, Sarah Fournier, Ruth Fischel

A group of eight clinical psychology graduate students put together this project to help obtain experience in community outreach. The project is aimed at raising awareness and recognition of the growing problem of depression in college students, and the association between alcohol/drug abuse and depression. This project targets residence counselors, friends of depressed students, faculty and employees of the University, and students who themselves suffer from depression. The group will stage a one-night live performance, one hour in length, at the Walsh Theatre. Group members will enact scenarios depicting the relationship between depression and alcohol/ drugs. They will also show coping strategies for dealing with their problems. David Burns' book, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy will be distributed to audience members as an additional resource surrounding depression.

Samaritan Award - Honorable Mention

Stress & Coping Strategies Workshop

By: Ballotti Learning Center Educational Consultants Joyce Atkinson, Cressida Lerman, Gusty Saintiche, Erich Gottlieb, Kathleen Cali, Michelle Nolan, Paula Sack, Lori Rosenberg, Jamie Alosso, & Carl Parks

The Educational Consultants at the Ballotti Learning Center work as "special advisors" to students at risk for not performing successfully at Suffolk. The Educational Consultants meet with students on campus who need additional academic support and discuss both personal and academic concerns before creating an action plan for the successful use of resources. This project will specifically address stress and the adjustment to college by acting proactively and by sharing coping strategies to deal with behaviors before they lead to depression. The group will host six stress management workshops, each workshop will have a topic related to stress and college life. As part of the workshops, journal writing and drawings will be encouraged to act as an expressive outlet for the students. Those weeks that workshops are not offered, e-mail newsletters will be sent out to the group reminding students to use journals or art as an opportunity to express themselves in daily life and providing stress tips for the week. Some examples of workshops include: What is stress? How do you manage?; The Juggling Act: Balancing School and Life and Making Friends; Nurturing Connections. We hope that these positive coping strategies would become internalized and support the students in enduring ways throughout their stay at Suffolk as well as in their future.

Samaritan Award - Recognition Certificate

Compassion, Openness, Prevention & Education (C.O.P.E.)

By: Colleen Finnerty

This project hopes to dispel the myths about depression and help to provide effective treatment for those seeking help. It will help to make known those resources available and will provide opportunity for follow-up and support systems for students experiencing problems. This goal will be attained by executing three steps. One, help dispel myths by posting fliers, offering extra credit lectures, student training for peer to peer consultation, and orientation sessions. Two, help make resources more known and available by a confidential student staffed drop-in center, e-mail/IM counseling and referrals, an information hotline, and increase promotion of the counseling center. Three, create lasting support systems and continued awareness by holding awareness events throughout the year promoting resources and making literature available.

Samaritan Award - Recognition Certificate

e-Care

By: Eugene Asola, QiHui Zhang, & Jia Zheng

This group is comprised of graduate students from the College of Arts & Sciences and from the Sawyer Business School. The goal of this project is to provide Suffolk students, especially new students and international students, with information that will help them achieve their goals through an unconventional approach, technology. The e-Care website will serve as an important resource base for those students affected by depression, and for community members who want to learn more about the topic.

The e-Care website will send out a weekly e-mail at the beginning of each week to inform students of the information contained in fliers posted around campus, the times and location of various new student information sessions, more information on the e-Care project, and the monthly organized walk for depression that will be carried out in and around campus.

Samaritan Award - Recognition Certificate

Unite

By: Jacqueline Crawford, Stephanie Smith, & James Sneed

This group of Suffolk undergraduate students in the College of Arts & Sciences hopes to strengthen relations and services for international students and address the issue of acceptance. International students tend to have a hard time adapting or establishing connections with other students. They may often feel alienated, isolated, homesick and lonely. The goal of this project is to integrate international students into campus activities as well as introduce and expose them to the city of Boston. Three activities encompass this project. First, in hopes of motivating students, we would invite a guest speaker with an international background to come to the University to share experiences and help them to feel more comfortable with their surroundings. Second, we would hold group sessions to allow students to come together and express their frustrations as well as get the opportunity to 'hang out" and meet new students. Lastly, we want to post fliers that help advertise the different groups or projects that are available on campus. This project will help to create and atmosphere where international and domestic students alike can successfully integrate.

Samaritan Award - Recognition Certificate

Food for Thought - An Article Discussion Group

By: Amy French, S.O.U.L.S. Community Service Center

S.O.U.L.S is a Suffolk University Community Service Center that engages Suffolk students, faculty, staff and alumni in a variety of meaningful service opportunities designed to strengthen communities and improve the quality of life for individuals. It has come to the director's attention that students often contact S.O.U.L.S. because they are lonely and want to meet new people. For some, this method of socialization is great, but others feel as though schedules do not mesh and insecurities arise about doing things on their own. This program offers a new idea; students will meet once a month for a free meal and talk about important social issues. The resident population will be the target group, and we will plan to use Resident Advisors to help spread the word about the new program. Articles related to the selected topic will be available prior to the meeting to be utilized as a tool to start up conversation. This is an opportunity to bring together members of the Suffolk community who may not feel comfortable or interested in existing offerings at the University.

Samaritan Award - Recognition Certificate

ADAPT Web Portal for Student Mental Health

By: Kelly Reardon

The leader of this program is a graduate student in the dual Masters program for Public Administration and Mental Health Counseling. The problem that is addressed in this proposal is the college environment and how it can trigger stress and depression. The college age also serves as a perfect time in which to educate students about mental health issues and expand their horizons to different things, such as mental health. The goal of this project is to target students who may not seek services in person but feel more comfortable finding them through the Suffolk website. A webpage that serves as a portal for mental health will be initiated to help students from every major, every location, and every age feel welcome to join in on the activities. This would help to connect Suffolk with other programs, such as CampusBlues , Ulifeline, and Mentality. If students see that Suffolk has created more mental health awareness, students will feel part of a caring community. The more common it is to talk about mental health, the better the chances people will be open about their own issues and get the help they need.

Sponsored by ADAPT
(Action for Depression Awareness, Prevention, and Treatment)