Bobcats Who Care is an interactive gatekeeper training program designed to teach participants how to recognize and respond to individuals on campus who may be in distress or contemplating suicide. The training aims to enhance participants' knowledge, awareness, and skills concerning suicide and suicide prevention. Participants learn empathic listening and relationship-building skills that help one talk comfortably with a person experiencing a crisis, directly assess risk of suicide, and connect someone in distress to professional support.
Training Topics
- Suicide and its impact on campus
- Own emotional reactions to suicide
- Making meaningful connections and communicating with those contemplating suicide
- Asking directly if someone is considering suicide
- Connecting a person in distress with mental health resources both on and off campus
Why does this training matter?
Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States, and the 3rd leading cause of death among young adults ages 14-25. National surveys report that 13% of college students contemplate suicide each year. At Ohio University, that would translate to over 3,800 students. Yet, many who think about suicide do not seek out professional resources and are unknown to mental health professionals.
With that in mind, it is also important to consider that 67% of young adults first tell a friend they are feeling suicidal before telling anyone else. Bobcats Who Care is designed to help participants feel better equipped to handle these difficult situations and make appropriate referrals to mental health resources. Whether a student, administrator, classified employee, or faculty member, participants can make a difference in someone’s life by becoming a Bobcat Who Cares.
Training Details
Bobcats Who Care is modeled after Campus Connect, a suicide prevention gatekeeper program developed by Dr. Cory Wallack at Syracuse University. This training is completed in groups of ~25 participants and requires a three-hour commitment (in-person or virtually via Microsoft Teams).
Request a Training
If your office, department, or organization is interested in requesting a Bobcats Who Care training, please complete the Bobcats Who Care Training Request Form
. We ask that you please make your request at least 3 weeks in advance of your desired training time, and please know we may need to schedule for a later date depending on trainer availability.
Once we receive your request, we will contact you to finalize the date and time of the training, the roster of participants (including name and email), and the format you prefer (i.e., in-person or virtual). If the in-person format is requested, we will reserve a location on campus for the training to take place. Once all details are solidified, we will send an Outlook Calendar invitation to all participants with the details of their upcoming training.
Please note, if your group is fewer than 20 participants, your group may be combined with other small groups who have requested training.
Become a Core Trainer
Core trainers are faculty and staff who are invested in suicide prevention and have been trained to facilitate Bobcats Who Care with students, faculty, staff, and other campus partners. Core trainers operate in pairs to provide the training and are not required to be mental health professionals.
If you are interested in becoming a core trainer and would like to be contacted about the next opportunity or wish to have more information, please contact our Assistant Director for Outreach and Consultation, Dr. Stephanie Maccombs-Hunter at maccombss@ohio.edu or (740) 593-1616.