Buffs working to bring awareness to key topic

BOULDER» It started off as a class project and, truthfully, Jalen Tompkins wasn’t initially sold on the idea.

Tompkins was tasked in a psychology class last spring with picking a community she cares about and researching a mental illness that impacts that community. Tompkins’ professor suggested that she focus on mental health in sports.

“Is it really that big of a deal?” she thought.

Tompkins soon discovered that it is a much bigger deal than most people realize, and now the University of Colorado senior — who is one of the best women’s soccer goalkeepers in the Pac12 Conference — is doing her part to spread the word.

This fall, led by Tompkins and women’s basketball standout Kennedy Leonard, the Bolder Buffs Peer Advocacy Program has been formed. It’s one of many efforts being made by the CU athletic department — and the school in general — to bring awareness to mental health.

CU is dedicating Friday’s football game against UCLA to mental health awareness.

Out of the shadows

For years, mental illness, especially in athletics, had been brushed aside and looked down upon, but that is changing.

Recently, highprofile athletes, including Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, women’s tennis legend Serena Williams and NBA star Kevin Love, have publicly discussed their struggles with mental illness.

In the past two years, former CU football players Drew Wahlroos and 1994 Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam committed suicide. In January, Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski took his life.

Losing Wahlroos, Salaam, Hilinski and others has brought some attention to mental illness, but the problem goes well beyond those tragedies. A 2016 study of 465 collegiate athletes, conducted by researchers from Kean University and Drexel University, determined that 24 percent of them showed signs of depression.

Colorado star guard Leonard has recruited several students to be part of the Bolder Buffs Peer Advocacy Program.

“It kind of just opened my eyes to somebody verbalizing what we all go through every day, but then realizing, ‘OK, some people are hit way harder,’” Tompkins said. “I don’t have depression. I’m very lucky. But a lot of people go through all these things, the same things I go through, and it hits them way harder.”

Recognizing the need

CU is now one of several universities around the country that are beginning to make mental health a priority.

The athletic department is currently aiming to raise $2 million to put towards mental health — using funds for additional staffing, resources and programs designed to assist the studentathletes.

Chris Bader is in his seventh year as the Buffs’ sports psychologist, but could no longer do the job alone. Earlier this year, CU hired Erin Rubenking, a licensed professional counselor and addictions counselor, to work alongside Bader.

“We want to create one of the best mental health departments inside an athletic department that we can,” CU athletic director Rick George said. “It’s going to be a major area of focus for us and we’re actively out fund raising to provide some resources so that we can do the things that we need from a mental health perspective.”

The athletic department is also working with the CU campus, as it expands and improves mental health services for all students.

“Perhaps more than any other generation before them, we know that current and incoming students are more open to seeking care and receiving support when they are experiencing anxiety or depression or are seeking recovery from addictive behaviors,” said assistant vice chancellor for student affairs Jennifer Mcduffie. “During the first week of this academic year alone, we saw a 38.5 percent increase in student walkins compared to our average over the last academic year.”

With a growing need for services, CU is aiming to eliminate the stigma associated with mental health. That’s the primary objective for Tompkins, Leonard and the Bolder Buffs — a club made up of CU student athletes to take care of each other.

Working with George, Bader and Rubenking this spring, Leonard and Tompkins came up with the idea for Bolder Buffs and then recruited their fellow student athletes. Their goal was to get a diversified group, with at least one representative from each sport at CU.

Plenty of support

As part of her class project, Tompkins made a pamphlet, titled, “Breaking the stigma of depression in student athletes.” She was unsure how it would be received as she passed them out and then spoke to a group of studentathletes about her objective.

Tompkins’ hesitation quickly vanished.

“I was shocked at how many people wanted to be a part of the project,” she said. “To hear how many people are so passionate about mental illness, it really gives me so much hope in CU, especially because these people I talk to every day. I had no idea they were so passionate about something like this. I didn’t know I was so passionate about it until I did the research and I was annoyed and (upset) and then I was happy again because I knew we could do something.”