Supporting Mental Health Awareness and Wellness

Moved by the heavy emotional workload of student leaders in on-campus housing, a group of Seattle University alumni who first came together while working as resident assistants (RAs) has created a fund to give a boost to current and future RAs.

The friends, who attended Seattle University in the mid-1980s and call themselves the Comet Social Club because they routinely gathered at the off-campus haunt The Comet Tavern, reconnected through social media and now meet annually for a reunion.

Hoping to help alleviate burnout among RAs and to honor a friend and fellow Social Club member who died in 2018, they founded the Housing & Residence Life Student Leadership Fund. The money can be used for additional training and resources as well as stress-relieving activities and outings. The fund is administered by Seattle University’s Housing & Residence Life staff.

Somebody drawn to the work of being an RA is compassionate, has high social intelligence and wants to build community, says Bryan L. Brunette, ‘86, who was one of the driving forces behind establishing the fund.

But times have changed, he says, and the group wants to ensure current and future RAs have resources to make sure their own mental health needs are being met.

“We didn’t have the same level of mental wellness issues folks have today,” he says. “Student leaders today face more challenges. It becomes more than, ‘Turn your stereo down’ or ‘You can’t have that beer.’”

Right now, alumni and leaders with Housing and Residence Life are working to establish an endowment for the fund, ensuring that additional resources will last for future generations of RAs. That effort received a meaningful boost with a planned gift pledge from Brunette and his husband Russell Roland. 

Leaders are also hoping to hear from other alumni who worked in student housing, no matter the era.

The work of current RAs was put in high relief for Kathleen Pelligrini, ‘87, whose college-aged daughter relayed the peacemaker duties of her RA at an out-of-state school.

“I was like, wow, people didn’t have access to us the way they do now and what is expected of an RA now is so much more than what was expected of us,” Pelligrini says.

National data collected from recent student surveys shows that today’s college students are struggling.

Almost two out of five students report severe or moderate depressive symptoms and a third of students report moderate or severe anxiety symptoms, according to the 2023-2024 Healthy Minds Survey of U.S. college students.

Often the first line of helpers who encounter those students and try to assist them are RAs. They play a vital role inside the university’s on-campus housing, giving structure and support by serving as peer advisors as well as helping to establish community and connect students to resources. For many students, moving to residence halls is their first experience living away from their families and RAs help create the feeling of a home.

But the work for RAs isn’t easy and these alumni believe that it hasn’t become easier, with the COVID shutdowns and modern stressors presenting new challenges for the current crop of RAs.

The death of attorney Kevin P. Donnelly, ’86, in 2018, not long after one of the Comet Social Club’s reunions, also motivated the group to think about their legacy and how to create a lasting force for good that aligned with Donnelly’s perspective on life.

“It really tied into giving back to our community in honor of Kevin,” says Marla Momper, ‘87. “Understanding that money is tight and people don’t have a lot of resources, we wanted to give back to the community to help them along the way.”

She thinks a little extra assistance to find a way to engage in self-care could help a lot, envisioning RAs using the money to get a massage or to go out to dinner. As a sign of how times have changed, when she was an RA, Momper would find release by going to a tanning salon, something she does not recommend. She understands, though, that RAs sometimes need a break.

“I lived on campus, I worked on campus, I went to school on campus, I needed to get off campus,” she says.

Make a gift to the Housing & Residence Life Student Leadership Fund (use the drop down menu to locate and donate directly to the fund).