Culturally Sustaining Methods in a Mental Health Crisis

During the 2020–2021 school year, more than 60% of college students met the criteria for at least one mental health problem, according to the Healthy Minds Study, which collects data from 373 campuses nationwide. Since then, many colleges have developed mission statements that seek to ensure and preserve access to higher education and success for all students, particularly students of color, low-income students, and other historically underrepresented student populations. However, there are many gaps between those good intentions and the actual changes that are implemented across institutional roles. In this article, we reflect on our own personal encounters with students in distress and their efforts to address mental health issues within the institutional setting. We draw on a synthesis of institutional ethnography, autoethnography, and narrative to help document how related texts work with everyday practices to support or resist compliance, in contrast to dominant narratives of self-help and self-care. We emphasize the significance of transformative learning theory, experiential knowledge, and structural changes in fostering well-being and addressing mental health emergencies effectively. Strategies such as creating equitable spaces, prioritizing mental health, and including diverse voices in decision-making processes are crucial. We recommend that institutions employ institutional ethnography methods to first identify how differently situated actors experience the crisis. Finally, we conclude that for these efforts to be sustainable, transformative, and equitable, they must also be culturally sustaining, making room for multiethnic knowledge production.