02:18 PM PDT on Wednesday, October 6, 2004

Associated Press

After a string of student suicides, Oregon universities are examining new ways to get help to students who need it, and protect their campuses against lawsuits if necessary.

File

The Oregon State University campus.

Under current policy at the University of Oregon, when a student confesses suicidal thoughts to a roommate, professor or dorm adviser, officials can't force the student to see a counselor.

But a draft policy, subject to approval by administrators and faculty, would give the university the power to require students who clearly threaten suicide to get help or, failing that, to be removed from school.

"We have seen an upswing in suicides . . . prompting our people to want to be proactive," said Ben Rawlins, general counsel for the Oregon University System.

At the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls, officials recently changed policies. Now, a student who threatens harm to himself can be removed from the Klamath Falls campus unless he allows a medical professional to evaluate him, said Joe Holliday, vice president for student affairs.

OIT has had several suicides in the past two years, Holliday told The Oregonian. He declined to give a total.

College students are far less likely than their nonstudent peers to kill themselves, studies show.

Nevertheless, national mental health groups estimate that nearly 1,100 college students die by suicide each year.

At UO in 2003-04, officials dealt with more students who contemplated suicide or made threats than ever before -- about 45 students, according to Robin Holmes, director of the Counseling and Testing Center.

Holmes said she knew of two UO students who killed themselves last year in a student body of 20,000. But no official count exists because not all suicides are reported, or they are reported to different campus departments.