On February 11th, we held a virtual convening on Supporting the Mental Health of BIPOC Community College Students where stakeholders from all 6 states discussed challenges, shared promising practices, and identified opportunities to improve services and supports for BIPOC students.

During the convening, Dr. Justin Heinze presented data from recent Healthy Minds Study survey respondents, including rates of depression, anxiety, and service access in college students. In addition to increases in poorer mental health across a variety of indicators, the responses also illuminate differences by race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, as well as those attending community colleges versus four-year institutions. To watch the recording, click here. 

Dr. Heinze is an educational psychologist and Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. His research investigates how schools influence disparities in violence and other risk outcomes from an ecological perspective that includes individual, interpersonal, and contextual influences on development. He is particularly interested in structural features of school context and policy that perpetuate inequity in violence and firearm outcomes, but also how these institutions can serve as a setting for intervention.