The College Fix

‘Some of this might be just emotive craziness’

There is a trend online of young people threatening to kill themselves in the wake of Donald Trump’s re-election to the Oval Office, and college and university counselors and crisis centers went into overdrive to help struggling students process the results.

One user posted on X a screenshot of Trump’s projected victory and said “[I] will actually livestream my suicide for all of you to watch.” Another posted, “I may actually kill myself in front of the capitol building as a form of protest.” Another wrote, “If Trump wins I will actually kill myself, I have my blade ready and medicine as a backup.”

Some students engaged in drinking games amid tears to cope with the outcome.

These were among dozens floating around X as election results poured in both prior to the election and after the outcome was determined. Higher education has responded to the wide range of disappointment by offering a variety of counseling and grief services and touting them in campuswide emails.

“[T]here are a number of processing spaces available for students, and we have reserved Benson 406 until 2:45 p.m. today for you. If you need to tag out, have a moment of silence, or connect with another team member, please use this time and space to do just that,” stated a memo sent at Wake Forest University sent the day after the election.

Texas State University’s Division of Student Success also sent an email to the student body informing them of the Counseling Center’s availability “for people who want to process the outcomes of the election.”

The email provided a link to their 24/7 counseling hotline, which they encouraged students to download and utilize. It also invited students to a university event called “Now What?!: After Election Debrief,” billed as “an opportunity for our campus community to come together and [discuss] the election results in a welcoming and supportive environment.”

The Texas State University Counseling Center declined to comment to The College Fix, with an official stating there is no time to due to “a peak demand for clinical services.”

Asked to weigh in on the extreme reaction, Kentucky State University political science Professor Wilfred Reilly said “a lot of the hysteria is caused by the people being hysteric.”

“Most of that is because of the hysteria being spread about Trump from the Left, where people are saying things like, ‘He’s gonna ban birth control,'” Reilly said in a telephone interview, adding that stance is not grounded in reality.

“I mean, you’re talking about a New Yorker that lives in a gold penthouse with his pro-choice Slavinian model wife. Like, that’s not gonna happen,” Reilly said.

Reilly had weighed in on the emotional meltdowns in his own post on X.

Why did you casually call the Suicide Hotline, and then post about it on X?

Theater kid norms need to be totally eradicated, over the next four years. An entire social movement needs to be shoved back into not the closet but the locker. https://t.co/8bi5ZMZQ2q

— Wilfred Reilly (@wil_da_beast630) November 6, 2024

“I’m not sure with this population of theatre kids how much of it is real,” he told The Fix. “I mean, you can look at the homicide and suicide numbers by the month in the USA and I haven’t seen any spikes. Maybe we will next month. Some of this might be just emotive craziness.”

In addition to Texas State U. and Wake Forest, the University of San Francisco hosted a “Post-Election Community Reflection” to provide students a “time and space to heal.”

Students at Georgetown University were offered a safe space to color and drink hot chocolate following the election. The school provided a “Legos station,” and “Milk and cookies” to students, according to an email sent from the student engagement director.

On Election Day, Harvard students were provided time to meet with “Sunshine” the puppet to destress. The Harvard Crimson reported that professors canceled classes and lightened student workloads the day after the election.

At Binghamton University, officials released guidelines for student’s post-election dialogue, in which they advised students to be “aware of how much space you take up in the conversation and especially how that intersects with your privileged identities.”

A similar trend occurred after Trump was first elected in 2016. For example, the University of Pennsylvania offered a post-election “Breathing Space” that included cuddling with cats and a puppy, coloring and crafting, and snacks such as tea and chocolate.

There was also in 2016 a cry-in at Cornell and a group hug at Rice University.

MORE: U. Oregon administrator on leave after wishing Trump voters would ‘f***ing’ kill themselves

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