Indiana University encourages students to utilize mental health services

IU Bloomington providing mental health resources after string of student deaths

By: Cornelius Hocker

BLOOMINGTON — On Thursday night, dozens of Indiana University students gathered to remember Nate Stratton. He's the 20-year-old that was hit over the weekend while riding a scooter. From Minnesota, Stratton's death has touched hundreds of lives. His family and closest friends spoke at Thursday's vigil.

"This shouldn't have happened. I love the man. He's going to be with me the rest of my life," Aidan Gonzalez, Stratton's best friend, said.

"I can never properly express what it meant to be a sister to my brother and I wish I could live the 100's of lives he touched, if it meant learning more about him," Ceci Stratton, Nate's older sister, said.

Stratton's death marks the third IU student who has died this school year. Avery McMillan, 20 and a male freshman, originally from Minnesota, both died in August.

Indiana University is encouraging students to take advantage of mental health resources available to them if they need help processing these recent events. Dr. Aaron Carrol, IU's Chief Health Officer, explains where to go find help on https://www.iu.edu/mental-health/index.html.

"There's a tab there that says get help and from that, you can enter what you are, which would be a student, your campus and what you'd like help with. All the resources we know of will be listed there," Dr. Carrol said. "Whether it be help with stress, whether it be actual counseling, whether it be other groups that might be meeting or activities you can participate in, that's your best place to start."

Example of getting help via IU's mental health resources

Wearing Stratton's clothes, his family wants their son's friends to know they're here to help them start the healing process that so many are going to go through.

"I would like to invite you to come let us know the person he was the last two years he was here," Abby Stratton, Nate's oldest sister, said.