111 110 Chapter Five: Supporting Students with Mental Health Difficulties Memorials In light of the challenges of balancing the needs of survivors to honor the deceased, and to do something to make meaning for the loss, and the risks of others imitating or modeling the suicidal behaviors, memorial services should only be held with careful considerations: • The will of the family members, and their cultural or religious concerns should be respected. It is important to keep memorial events, if they take place, as low key as possible while maintaining sensitivity for the wishes of close friends and family. • Voluntary memorial events that are held after school hours are preferred to whole-community events during school day. • Memorial events can take the format of a funeral or memorial service, a memorial corner for people to write and leave their blessings, and fund raising or other community service activities that provide a positive emotional outlet for the family and friends (e.g., activities for suicide prevention). Chapter Five: Supporting Students with Mental Health Difficulties • If a formal memorial service is planned, it is best led by student affairs leadership. Postvention representatives shall attend and be observant for students in distress. Focus on the personal attributes that will be remembered, rather than the cause of death. Emphasis shall be placed on mutual support and how the community can work together to prevent future suicide. Student Counselors should also be in the program to acknowledge issues related to post-traumatic responses and remind students about the availability of emotional support. • It is common that some spontaneous memorial events will come up if the deceased student is well-known or popular on campus. Though they are not official memorial activities held by the University, postvention representatives should reach out to the organizers and offer guidance and support, in order to ensure safe messaging and protect the vulnerable individuals who may attend these informal memorial events. “If a formal memorial service is planned, it is best led by student affairs leadership. Postvention representatives shall attend and be observant for students in distress.”
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