In hopes of supporting mental health among Vandal athletes, ASUI passed a resolution to encourage the athletic department to hire a full-time sport psychologist.
Sports Psychologist
Current and former University of Idaho athletes spoke about their experiences with mental health and the struggle of having only one part-time psychologist.
Co-author of the resolution and four-year athlete Julia Hayes highlighted her experience of dealing with anxiety in her sport.
“I was confused and frustrated as to why the sport I’ve loved for so long was making panic attacks,” Hayes said. “I started seeing the sports psychologist every other week, and every time I got to sit down and speak with her, I felt my anxiety about my sport begin to diminish little by little.”
Anika Jozin, another resolution co-author and student athlete, spoke more on the difficulties of the current status of the psychologist.
“Anytime that I can’t make that appointment, I have to hold off for a week or two, and honestly this appointment is something I look forward to every single week,” Jozin said. “Sometimes, going the full week without it, I still struggle and just want to talk to her, but I can’t because she’s not available.”
Hayes said that there are over 400 student-athletes that attend UI and only one part-time sports psychologist.
Sen. Daniel Hopovac asked Jozin why athletes couldn’t use counseling and testing. Jozin said that it is a resource, but those specializing in sport psychology can help student-athletes better understand where their stress comes from.
The resolution passed unanimously.
Transgender Sanctuary
After last week’s lengthy discussion over this resolution, this week had similar rhetoric from those who spoke against the legislation.
Sebastian Garcia, a mechanical engineering student, raised many issues with the language of the resolution that targeted the Republican party.
“My time here at U of I, I humbly conclude that we have a very strong Vandal family here,” Garcia said. “However, by saying that we need to combat the insidious spread of hatred and intolerance perpetuated by Republican politicians, this unduly implicates and divides those members of our Vandal community with a specific political background in that behavior.”
Another issue that Garcia took with the bill is the aspect of elevating and promoting one certain group of Vandals.
“A question for you all is why is it within the University of Idaho’spurview to demonstrate favorable advancement to any one group of students and not all?” Garcia said.
Garcia sees this resolution as a way to elevate all students at the UI rather than honing in on just one group.
“For equality and justice, we must all stand together to defend the rights of Vandals, not because of a particular vulnerability, but because we are all created equal, in the eyes of God,” Garcia said. “I humbly suggest that this resolution be rewritten to affirm and uphold the rights of all Vandals solely by their inherent humanity.”
Sen. Bex Cornog discussed some points that Garcia made and refuted some of the statements made by him.
“It’s to my understanding that this was brought to the fore because that specific group of people aren’t given those (rights),” Cornog said. “That’s what we’re trying to acknowledge is that we are showing our support for the people who do have basic human rights to be that foundation for this specific minority to say we are here to support you and fight for your basic human rights.”
However, the one issue that a majority of senators agreed on was a need to change the language to avoid dividing the student community.
The resolution was sent back to relevant committees and will be reintroduced as amended next week.
Daniel V. Ramirez can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @DVR_Tweets