The North Lawndale Community News reports: Malcolm X College Recognized for dedication to Students’ Well Being

Written by Todd Thomas

Malcolm X College has received the 2025 Excellence in Mental Health and Well-Being Award from Insight Into Academia. The honor recognizes the school’s dedication to supporting students’ mental and emotional health. School president, David A. Sanders spoke with the North Lawndale Community Newspaper about the award and the college’s commitment to overall excellence as they enter the 2025 Fall semester.

NLCN: Tell us about the award and why you think Malcolm X College was recognized?

Sanders: It’s all about the fact that we are prioritizing the mental health of our students. The pandemic exacerbated those needs, and I think people have a concept of mental health that’s typically negative. But really mental health is about ensuring that you’re confident, and that you have somebody to talk to if needed. I believe that’s what the chancellor desired and that is obviously what we desire. We have the largest constitution of mental health providers here at Malcolm X in the district with eight clinicians, and anywhere from eight to twelve externs who are students that are going to college to become mental health counselors or social workers. They help provide the foundation for the support we provide students.

NLCN: Has this always been something Malcolm X College emphasizes?

Sanders: We’ve been focusing on it for a long time, and we were one of the first wellness centers that was opened at City Colleges of Chicago. We found that students that participate in clinical services ended up having a 15% greater success rate than students who did not, and that was telling us that these services are absolutely needed and most importantly they help students get across the finish line.

NLCN: A lot of people won’t seek services because of the potential embarrassment and personal nature of the issue. How do you address that?

Sanders: A lot of people have a stigma about mental health because they associate that with being “Crazy.” The stereotype is that that person is out of their mind or doing things that are inappropriate, but that does not fully constitute mental health. Mental health  can be a traumatic event like a death in the family, or an accident or somebody robbed you. All of those can be events that impact mental health. And it is OK, to not be OK. Sometimes you need someone to talk to, or walk through with you in those challenging circumstances, and figure out how to improve your mental health and capacity around that particular issue so you can overcome it.

NLCN: Why is it critical for students to have these services available at school?

Sanders: Sometimes people have no one at home that they can talk to, they don’t have family. By providing these services we’re providing a much needed health care that students may not have access to, that they can get right here on campus. And we have made it available twenty four hours a day seven days a week so they can call in and get these services as well. We want everybody who needs those services to receive them. The Wellness Center at Malcolm X is in a location that’s obscure to insure our students seeking those services wouldn’t be stereotyped or ostracized for going to those services, and our food pantry is in that area as well.The location of it was very intentional.

NLCN: Do the economics of the community play a role?

Sanders: We are actually in a very influential area in the medical district. We’ve got doctors, lawyers, and officials all living in this area. At Malcolm X College we serve students from every single ward in the city of Chicago. We provide services to everybody. If you’re a student of ours we’re going to provide it to you…that’s our approach. Trauma is not confined to a zip code. It’s not confined to your financial sitiation…trauma is trauma.

NLCN: What are the initial steps a student takes to get the help they need?

Sanders:They can speak to any employee and they can direct them to the Wellness Center. We have orientation so every student is aware we have services available to them. And we give them that in writing…it’s on our website and we try to make it as simple as possible.

NLCN: Does the current political climate have any effect on what the college’s mission is, or will be in the near future?

Sanders: We are continuing as we always have. When you talk about DEI, who are you talking about? We serve everybody so I don’t know there’s even an issue. We just keep grinding away because our job is to get students across the finish line. Get them into the job market, get them into four year universities, into research projects and study abroad trips across the world. We’re doing all kinds of amazing things for students and proving that the stigma of community college doesn’t exist here. We are a college and we can do what any other college does, and we do it really, really well.

NLCN: What is your mindset going into the new school year in the fall of 2025?

Sanders: It’s the greatest time of the year for us. Our students are coming back and they have objectives of what they want to accomplish. And our faculty and staff are back and the excitement is in the air. It’s a chance for us to invest in our students and our community. Every single day we’re ensuring that our mission is being accomplished by helping students achieve their academic objectives, and this is the time that that happens. It’s all hands on deck, and everybody is focused on ensuring that we have a warm and inviting  environment and they’re there for every student to be successful.