This weekend is Ohio University’s Dads weekend, filled with events, including zip lining, the Athens County Sheriff’s Office’s chili cook-off, Casino Royale and more throughout campus. Although many students enjoy these events, some students could be grieving a deceased loved one from afar, and this weekend may affect them negatively.
When the festivities and celebrations arise in Athens, there is a silent battle of sadness overlooked. OU has little to no events concerning support toward students with family members who have passed or specific support groups for students experiencing grief during these major weekends.
Although some may look at this and exclaim about Hudson Health Center’s weekly drop-in hours, these services are offered at inconvenient times of a student’s day from Monday to Friday, 9:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. These hours can be difficult to attend because many students are either in class, working or studying.
Avah Six, a junior majoring in psychology, describes her struggles with grief from her mother's and grandfather’s passing and her father’s incarceration. She brought up her difficulty in finding time to head to the counseling services due to time conflicts.
“I think it's very difficult for the students who need it to access it,” Six said. “Especially students who really struggle on these weekends, because there is so much going on.”
Although Hudson offers these services in the middle of the day, the Living Learning Center offers Let’s Talk Hours. The drop-in hours occur from 5-10 p.m. in Room 160 at the LLC located on South Green; however, these sessions are closed on Saturdays, holidays and semester breaks.
Six also describes how her grief affects her ability to attend these festivities.
“It’s very difficult to see other people’s families in general, just walking around,” Six said. “It feels like I should stay away and stay inside.”
Six’s perspective is a normalcy for many students at OU. Not only does this weekend trigger grief for others, but it could also bring students’ silent battles to the surface.
Professor Emeritus Mark Shatz, a psychology professor at the OU Zanesville campus, specialized in death and dying, or formally called thanatology, before he retired. He spoke about grief, bereavement and mourning, and how grief tends to never leave humans.
“Life is loss and loss is life,” Shatz said. “What my normalcy is your pathology, meaning grief is like a finger point print. Everybody grieves differently, and it’s really hard to make gross generalizations about because of the timing and the circumstances of death.”
Along with this point, Shatz also explains the use of hospice centers and how many students can be dealing with anticipatory grief while at school. This term is used to explain the grief a person experiences when a loved one is alive, but the loss is impending.
“Most hospice programs have various forms of grief support groups,” Shatz said. “Sometimes when a loved one is dying and you’re out partying, that’s where support groups can come in handy.”
However, the only hospice program in Athens doesn’t offer any support groups or community bereavement services. Many grieving Athens residents can’t access a proper support group, especially students with family members in hospice care. Shatz also describes how this could be a liability issue, questioning, “Who’s going to run the support group?”
Not every grief support will be perfect, but it should be more recognized. The only event for those without a father this weekend is one I found through the Honors Tutorial College called AlternaDad’s. It will be held at the Honors House at 35 Park Pl. from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 1, and there will be pizza and fun activities inside.
This event was only forwarded to honors students, but it welcomes anyone without a father this weekend. It would be nice if OU could highlight this event and promote it to more individuals.
As someone who lost their father in 2023, this weekend is especially tough. I hope everyone in a similar boat knows they aren’t alone. AlternaDad’s is a great way to get out and enjoy food and activities with others. Resources are available, but not much, and OU must continue its mission to provide more for grieving students.
Natalie Saddler is a sophomore studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note the opinions expressed in this column do not represent those of The Post. Want to talk to Natalie about their column? Email them at ns505423@ohio.edu.
