University Statements

Dear Cornell Community,

A new academic year is about to begin, and we’d like to extend a warm welcome to the newest members of our Cornell community, and to all returning students, staff and faculty. Today we are pleased to share two new developments related to the campus Mental Health Review—a multi-year effort to support and enrich student mental health and the well-being of the campus community.

New Mental Health Website

This week we will launch a new website for the Cornell community: mentalhealth.cornell.edu. Created with the recommendations of the Mental Health Review in mind, the site serves as a centralized source of information about campus mental health and well-being that brings together resources for self-care, information about navigating the many campus resources available to all undergraduate, graduate, and professional Cornell students, and how to get involved in campus efforts to support mental health. Furthermore, it provides valuable resources for staff, faculty, and families who seek guidance on supporting students and their mental health needs. As the year goes on, we look forward to working with groups and teams across campus to expand site content and enhance this new campus-wide resource.

New EARS Model of Support

Secondly, as members of the Executive Accountability Committee for the Mental Health Review implementation, we want to publicly commend the excellent and exciting work recently conducted by the students of EARS (Empathy Assistance and Referral Service). After taking a pause to reflect and reimagine their role on campus, EARS is rolling out a new model of peer support this semester, one that is in close alignment with specific recommendations from the Mental Health Review. We thank them for their dedication and thoughtfulness in developing this new model and encourage you to read more about it in the recent Chronicle article.

As a new semester begins, we invite each of you to reflect and consider how your actions—as an individual or as a member of a group, department, team, college or organization—can support your own well-being and also help to advance positive culture change on campus. Please continue to follow the MHR progress online.

Wishing you a healthy semester,

Kathryn Boor
Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Education

Ryan Lombardi
Vice President for Student and Campus Life

Sharon McMullen
Assistant Vice President of Student and Campus Life for Health and Wellbeing

Lisa Nishii
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education