Doxed, Cyberbullying, Death Threats: Student Government Leaders’ Mental and Emotional Health Experiences with Campus Crises

In higher education, student mental and emotional health and wellbeing continue to be a pressing matter of concern for administrators, policymakers, and students alike. For student leaders, this toll is often exacerbated by different modes of campus involvement and engagement; in this study, this includes college student government. While studies have examined students’ experiences more broadly, in this article, we illuminate findings from a larger study on 25 elected student government presidents and vice presidents who talked about the intense health circumstances they faced in their leadership roles. Through constructivist grounded theory methodology, we add to trauma stewardship frameworks to make some timely and important considerations for supporting college student government presidents and vice presidents. As a result, it is imperative for student government advisors and university administrators to address these concerns for student leaders. At the conclusion of this article, we introduce a model for Trauma Stewardship in Student Government.