Miami University officials hope that a federal suicide prevention grant will help lift the stigma of seeking help for emotional problems.

A three-year, $282,532 Garret Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention Grant will help all campuses provide service in different areas over the next three years, according to Mary Bausano, assistant dean of students and counselor at Miami Hamilton.

The grant, administered by the national Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and available to colleges and tribal communities, is named for Garrett Lee Smith, son of former U.S. Senator Gordon Smith, D-Oregon, who suffered from depression and committed suicide in 2003, the day before his 22nd birthday.

Bausano, the principal investigator in preparing and submitting the successful grant proposal, will team up with Nancy Ferguson, coordinator of Counseling and Disability Services on the Middletown campus, and Kip Alishio, director of Student Counseling Services on the Oxford campus, to implement the grant.

The funds will be used to provide training for people to recognize the warning signs for someone who might be at risk of suicide, to help the university work more closely with community mental health providers, to enhance the university’s crisis website and to provide resiliency training for Miami students.

“The training will be designed to increase the mental health of students by providing positive responses to trauma without getting to the point of suicide,” Bausano said. “To let them know things they can do ahead of time to strengthen their immunity against those factors.”

A portion of the grant funding will go toward hiring a professional manager to coordinate the work across all three campuses, she said.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline also will be promoted on Miami’s campuses as part of this grant program.

According to Dr. Gail Walenga, Miami’s assistant vice president for student affairs on the Oxford campus, the proposal submitted by Miami addressed the needs of youth at high risk as identified by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, including but not limited to lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender youth, American Indian/Alaska Natives, military veterans, and family members of military veterans.

“Through this grant, Miami will increase the amount of training to students, faculty and staff on suicide prevention and mental health promotion, and increase collaboration among campus and community partners to effectively deliver the message that suicide prevention is everyone’s responsibility,” Walenga said.