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Why We Need Trauma Sensitive Universities

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By Laura Hinkle 

Trauma-informed care is a concept that has only recently gained traction at universities around the United States. This idea is deeply personal to me, both from personal experience and my time volunteering at the PEACC (Prevention, Education, and Advocacy on Campus and in the Community) Center. Trauma is defined as any experience in which a person’s internal resources are not adequate to cope with external stressors. A few common sources of trauma in young adults are adverse childhood experiences, sexual assault, violent assault, racism, and poverty. What’s even more important to realize is that trauma causes a ripple effect that infiltrates every aspect of people’s life. It can lead to social, emotional and cognitive impairment, adoption of unhealthy coping mechanisms, severe health problems, and even an early death. Thus, trauma is not something that should ever be treated lightly.
From my time as a college student, I’ve witnessed just how many students have traumatic experiences that are often made worse by university personnel. Some examples of this are professors not giving students an excused absence the morning after being sexually assaulted, the dean’s office making the process of reporting incidents incredibly confusing and intimidating, and first-generation college students not being informed about healthcare resources. Creating a trauma informed system is not an easy task, but it’s something that university leadership should make a priority if they truly care about the needs of college students. 
The Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative (TLPI) defines a trauma sensitive school in the following way: “A trauma sensitive school is one in which all students feel safe, welcomed, and supported and where addressing trauma’s impact on learning on a school-wide basis is at the center of its educational mission. An ongoing-inquiry-based process allows for the necessary teamwork, coordination, creativity, and sharing of responsibility for all students.” To elaborate further, there are six distinct characteristics of a trauma sensitive school.
  1. They understand how trauma impacts learning and why a school-wide, systematic approach to this is necessary.
  2. They support students so that they feel safe physically, socially and emotionally.
  3. They have a comprehensive approach to addressing student needs, including aspects such as relationships, academics, and physical and emotional health.
  4. They engage in overt efforts to get students involved in campus communities.
  5. They embrace teamwork and leadership.
  6. They can anticipate and adapt in response to changing student needs. 
Adopting these characteristics and making efforts to reshape universities at every level of the system is crucial. If these practices were put into place across the United States, hundreds of thousands if not millions of students would be positively impacted.
Laura Hinkle is a McConnell Scholar in the Class of 2022. She is studying political science, history, and social change at the University of Louisville.
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