BY JOAN KIM

In print | Published February 28, 2008

Various counseling groups speak to the different needs and wants of students on campus, but there has yet to be one that has not been limited to a specific issue until now. Officially started last Monday, Speak2Swatties is a new student-run peer counseling group that aims to cater to all students on campus. The group is run by co-founders Megan Jeffreys ’10 and Melissa Cruz ’10 as well as 12 other peer counselors.

According to Jeffreys, other counseling groups on campus are very specialized in their focus and target certain groups, but Speak2Swatties is universal. The group is open to listen to and discuss anything and everything that goes on in the lives of Swarthmore students, added Cruz.

Jeffreys and Cruz realized last year that the campus was missing a group like Speak2Swatties where students could go to their peers and talk about anything.

“I’ve been at the college for 14 years and there have been several times when people have talked about peer counseling groups. This is the first time people have actually followed through,” said David Ramirez, director of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).

Although Speak2Swatties is completely separate from CAPS, Ramirez was available to guide Cruz and Jeffreys through the organizational process and training.

“My main focus was to answer questions, address any concerns and help them assess what some of the major challenges might be,” Ramirez said. The group and Ramirez discussed how to handle confidentiality and other issues that are relevant on such a small campus.

“We’re strictly confidential. We’re not going to talk about your problems to another peer counselor in any identifying way,” Jeffreys said. Sexual Health Counselor Eric Glickman ’10, who is not part of the peer counseling group, helped teach techniques essential in peer counseling. “I helped out with teaching peer counseling skills, helped them create workshops and generally organize the service,” said Glickman, who also was a peer counselor at a community center over the summer.

Cruz said that the counselors are not merely available to give advice but sometimes just to listen and be objective and neutral. “We’re not intending to pose as professionals,” added Cruz.

The counselors have all undergone training since the beginning of the school year. “I was very impressed with the group and the thoughtfulness of the group. The preparation that they were doing — they didn’t just rush into this,” Ramirez said. He added that Speak2Swatties would complement the other services on campus, which not only included CAPS, but the RAs, SAMs, Deans, Religious Advisors and student support groups on campus.

Flyers will be going up around campus with the pictures of the counselors and their e-mail addresses. Their headquarters will be in Upper Tarble in 308 and 312 with drop-in hours from 9-11 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays and 2-4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. In addition to office hours, students can make appointments outside of office hours. If there are any additional questions about Speak2Swatties, please contact Cruz or Jeffreys at mcruz1@swarthmore.edu and mjeffre1@swarthmore.edu.

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