Chrystal Ford started college during the height of the pandemic, and for her, that meant attending classes online and building connections through her computer. When classes began to transition to in-person learning, it was a huge adjustment.
“During my freshman and sophomore years, (social anxiety) kept me from doing a lot of the things that I wanted, like exploring Atlanta, going to on-campus events, or even leaving my room,” said Ford, now a senior at Spelman College.
As the world returns to its post-pandemic “normal,” the transition comes with many fears and unexpected challenges for college students.
According to a study conducted by Best Colleges, 95% of college students have experienced negative mental health symptoms due to COVID-19. Out of 702 surveyed students, 56% said they have difficulty participating in class and engaging with other students.
For Ford, this means planning how interactions will go ahead of time, planning what she’ll say, and how the conversation may go because “I fear looking stupid in front of them.” It’s never as bad as she thought it would be, though.
Angela Neal-Barnett, professor at Kent State University and founder and director of the Program for Research on Anxiety Disorders among African Americans research lab, defines social anxiety and what it looks like for students post-COVID.
“It’s this fear of being evaluated,” said Barnett, who is also the author of “Soothe Your Nerves: The Black Women’s Guide to Understanding and Overcoming Anxiety, Panic, and Fear.”
“Because we were so isolated during the pandemic, on Zoom and other digital platforms, we could do things like turn off our cameras, we didn’t have to interact, so we weren’t really using our voices,” she said.
Neal-Barnett said there should be a diverse range of experienced therapists who can relate to students based on their needs on HBCU campuses who can persuade students to come together rather than further isolate themselves. This means more psychologists or therapists in the broad sense, but also health care providers who specialize in unique facets of the Black identity, like Black women’s issues or the Black queer experience.
“You want there to be not only people who are generalists but people who have real expertise in whatever it is that a particular campus is seeing,” She said. “You also want to train faculty and the student services side to foster coming together rather than inadvertently promoting isolation.”
Neal-Barnett said HBCUs should address mental health concerns by allowing students to have in-person interactions to push through their social anxiety and provide mental health programs or support services. Professors need to make an effort too, she said.
“One of the things that’s really important for professors to do is foster a sense of belonging, things that you really don’t know that are important,” She said. “Simple things like learning someone’s name, activities that allow you to know a little bit more about your students.”
Kevin Banks, vice president of student affairs at Morgan State University, shared his perspective on the benefits of offering mental health services on an HBCU campus to help students, faculty, and the community around them.
On Morgan State’s campus, many resources and opportunities were implemented to help students and faculty post-COVID and a traumatic event that occurred fall of 2023 during their homecoming season.
Banks has used his role to advocate for “Wellness Days” on campus. Each semester, students and faculty get two days to practice self-care or catch up on assignments. He became worried about student well-being and pushed for fun activities on campus to get engagement.
“If students aren’t locked in, then we have to do something. We rebranded our spring break to a wellness week,” he said.
Over time, faculty saw a spike in the number of students using the mental health resources on campus. Banks recalled his experience when he noticed the spike in numbers post-COVID.
“During COVID, there was a two-week wait. Now, we have embedded counselors for students and students in athletic programs. With these counselors, we have no wait time,” he said.
Student’s grades have drastically improved with these mental health resources as students process trauma differently, he said.
With so many students utilizing the Wellness Days, Banks reflected on the difference in the nature on campus as students use their day to catch up on assignments or rest.
“It’s a pretty quiet day on campus than usual because everyone is using the day to rest or catch up on class work,” he said.
Looking ahead, Banks shared his goals for their mental health program on campus and how he hopes it’ll help even graduate students in doctorate programs.
“Getting our counselor center accredited and training doctorate students at Morgan State University to further help destigmatize and help those with mental health,” he said.
For other HBCU campuses, Banks gave administration advice to prominent organizations that would like to implement more mental health resources on their campuses by connecting and partnering with resources on and off campus.
“It is important to have people in place to speak to someone 24/7,” he said. “Knowing that counselors are in place helps students and faculty.”