Texas Tech offers counseling due to ‘current political climate’

The Student Counseling Center (SCC) at Texas Tech University is giving out tips on “living in a traumatic world” that can “feel complex, overwhelming, and even scary.”

“The world today can feel complex, overwhelming, and even scary,” the front page of the center’s website states. “The current political climate has recently been characterized by anger, divisiveness, and a lack of mutual understanding, and many of our students have been directly impacted by recent political decisions in ways that have left them questioning the safety of themselves and those that they love.” 

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“At the Student Counseling Center we raise our voices in speaking out against the violence, prejudice, and discrimination that we see in our society today,” the website adds. 

The center further claims that “discrimination and prejudice do not always take the forms of overt violence,” and that having to deal with “more subtle microaggressions” is also a “painful reality” for many students.

Additionally, the SCC encourages any student who has been “impacted by oppression” to think about speaking with one of its counselors and offers a list of “resources” that the center says “can be helpful in creating understanding, promoting healing, and fostering inclusivity.”

Notably, the resource catalogue includes articles such as “101 Ways to Take Care of Yourself when the World Feels Overwhelming,” “Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism,” “Self-Care in Times of Social Unrest,” and more.

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The SCC also links to a poster for “Self-Care in Times of Social Unrest,” which states that “We live in a time when information related to social injustice is at our fingertips.”

Additionally, the article “12 Ways to Be a White Ally to Black People” states that “white people who hate racism should work hard to become white allies,” and gives tips on how to do so.

For example, the article suggests that white people can become better allies by understanding “the modern forms of race oppression and slavery and how they are intertwined with policing, the courts, and the prison-industrial complex,” as well as by adhering to “the philosophy of nonviolence as you resist racism and oppression.”

The article even suggests that people not to use words like “riot” and “looting” when describing social justice protests and demonstrations. 

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“Be mindful, and politically and socially aware with your language,” the work reads. “Notice how the mainstream news outlets are using words like ‘riot’ and ‘looting’ to describe the uprising in Ferguson. What’s happening is not a riot. The people are protesting with a righteous anger. This is a justified rebellion.”

Despite the controversial elements on the resource guide, the Dean of Students at Texas Tech, Matt Gregory, defended the SCC initiative, arguing that issues of race and immigration have contemporary salience for students concerned about the state of society.

“The Student Counseling Center added specific language on the SCC website as a result of the emergence of student concerns surrounding perceived racial tension on a national level and immigration status,” Gregory told Campus Reform. “More broadly, the intent is to provide information and resources for all students to help process societal issues and address the potential for psychological effects.”

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