By Jen Sparks
TCNJ Clinic Director
As part of its core beliefs, “The College regards education in the service of human welfare as its chief end,” according to its website.
With the close of the TCNJ Clinic slated for June 30, there has been much debate about Counseling and Psychological Services and the future of mental health services on campus. CAPS is a wonderful team of dedicated, licensed professionals with a genuine concern for the students and their well-being. We are fortunate to have them on campus.
Once opened, InFocus Urgent Care is sure to find its niche. That being said, we need to acknowledge that nothing can replace the TCNJ Clinic.
Our services are special. We offer couple, family and individual counseling to students and community members alike. We operate on a sliding scale, with services dipping as low as $5 per session, supporting our clients as long as services are needed. This is health and wellness support for our entire community.
The TCNJ Clinic embodies the College’s mission and values. We are a rare blend of passionate and committed learners under the close direction and supervision of experienced clinical teachers and researchers. We strive to bring high quality, low-fee, long-term counseling to both students and community members.
We offer internships for undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students, training “the best and the brightest.” These students return to their local communities and continue their work impassioned with the same mission and values the College seeks to edify. There is nothing in Mercer County, N.J., that comes close to resembling the TCNJ Clinic.
As the TCNJ Clinic Director, I am deeply saddened and disheartened by the College’s decision to close the clinic. Conflict on campus is clearly growing in response to this decision. When conflict and disagreements are swept under the rug without a thorough, transparent debate, growth is stifled. Creativity and innovation cease to flourish.
Suddenly, the words that give substance and life to our mission and values appear empty and hollow. I am moved by those of you on and off campus who have taken a stand, requesting to be heard. Change starts at home!
The mission our college has authored beckons a new kind of ethics from both its leadership and constituency. It is one that understands that the whole is far more grand than the sum of its parts. As former President Barack Obama stated in his 2009 Inaugural Address, “The stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.” The authors of our mission hold us all to high standards.
Our mission states: “We hold the highest expectations for ourselves and support each other in achieving (our accomplishments).”
“We work together to enrich our local, national and global communities.”
“We work together in a spirit of fairness, cooperation and transparency.”
“We recognize the unique worth of each member of our community.”
“We nurture ongoing campus dialogue to ensure that we adhere to our mission, vision and values.”
I appreciate the College’s foresight and vision in establishing a mission that gives voice to the people, not alone, but in conversation with its leadership. This gives rise to transparency, cooperation, fairness and truly honoring the worth of each community member.
In the spirit of the College’s 2021 Strategic Plan, “Bolder, Better, Brighter,” please join us in respectfully requesting that the administration reconsider the closure of the TCNJ Clinic. Go to tiny.cc/tcnjclinic, “Save the TCNJ Clinic,” and join more than 1,300 other campus and community members who have signed our petition.
As cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
