The Graduate Student Council (GSC) made plans to speak to Stanford’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) representatives about creating a committee geared specifically toward mental health during its meeting on Wednesday.
Councilors have consistently called for increased mental health support and accessibility throughout the school year. The council unanimously approved a resolution last week that would provide mental health training for faculty and instructors and aid the sharing of mental health resources.
The proposed committee would likely comprise a group of students who would provide feedback to Stanford on mental health, according to GSC councilor and fourth-year developmental and psychological sciences Ph.D. student Emily Schell.
GSC councilor and fifth-year modern thought and literature Ph.D. student Jamie Fine expressed support for starting work on the committee over the summer, reasoning that summer quarter can be a “dead zone” for students, which makes student initiatives difficult to get rolling in the fall.
“It would be really nice to go into the academic year with conversations [around mental health] lined up,” Fine said.
Councilors also made plans for Grad Formal, a yearly social event for graduate students. The event will take place on Friday and will be held at Coyote Ranch in Coyote, California, according to GSC co-chair K.C. Shah J.D. ‘22.
The council also approved funding for several student group-led events on Wednesday, including Lighthouse for Ukraine, a global event that has been hosted in several other cities including Berlin and London. The event will be hosted by the Ukrainian Student Association (UKA), which collaborated with the Russian Speaking Student Association to receive funding, as the UKA is not an official student organization.
According to fourth-year physics Ph.D. student and UKA member Kateryna Pistunova, the event will feature Ukrainian food, art and masterclasses, as well as several important guest speakers and Ukrainian organizations. All the funds raised from the event would be donated to Ukraine, Pistunova said.
Other events that received funding included a Cinco de Mayo celebration hosted by the Mexican Association of Graduate Students. The Stanford Italian Society also received funding for Italian food and drinks for a larger barbeque event called Fire on Fire, which features outdoor cuisines from countries around the world.