West Chester University: Pete Earley Keynotes Mental Illness Awareness Week Events

Press release from West Chester University:

September 30, 2021

If you or someone you know is in a mental health emergency, call at 800-273-TALK (8255) or call 911 immediately.

What happens to mentally ill people who break a law?

Pete Earley knows – and will share what he has witnessed when he speaks on Tuesday,
October 5, as the keynote of West Chester University’s Mental Illness Awareness Week
events. His 6 p.m. speech and Q&A in Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall is free and open
to the public.

Earley’s nonfiction book CRAZY: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness was one of two finalists for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize. He emphasizes that he uses
the word “CRAZY” in the book title to refer to the mental health care system.

CRAZY: A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness

His book chronicles his struggle to help his adult son after he develops a severe
mental illness and is arrested. His son’s arrest prompted Earley, a former Washington Post reporter, to spend 10 months inside the Miami Dade County jail as a reporter where
he followed prisoners with mental disorders through the criminal justice system to
see what actually happened to them. CRAZY has won awards from the American Psychiatric Association, the National Alliance on
Mental Illness (NAMI), Mental Health America, and prompted CNN to name him one of
the nation’s top “Mental Wellness Warriors.”

Washington Post CRAZY

“I feel more passionately about this book than any I have ever written,” says Earley,
who has authored 11 nonfiction books and 10 novels. “Our nation’s jails and prisons
have become our new mental asylums. I wrote this book as a wake-up call to expose
how persons with mental illness are ending up behind bars when what they need is help,
not punishment.”

WCU students in the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) On Campus organization
were instrumental in coordinating Earley’s visit and in organizing other campus activities
for Mental Illness Awareness Week October 3–9.

NAMI On Campus President Hannah Crespy, a psychology major, said that she and her
club’s board members “believed that it would be important to bring in a speaker who
could tie in the complexities of mental illnesses and relate it to a real-world problem
such as the intersectionality of mental health and the justice system. We believe
that it is crucial for NAMI On Campus to provide education and ‘real people’ experiences
to campus in hopes of reducing stigma.”

Crespy also emphasized how important it for students to understand that they are not
alone in their struggles with mental health. That resonates with Jose F. Tena, a criminal
justice major who is president of the criminal justice honor society Nu Beta (Alpha
Phi Sigma): “I wanted to help NAMI On Campus, knowing how important it is to speak
up about mental illness and seek help.”

The event is free but registration is required. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mental-illness-awareness-pete-earley-tickets-154835931439?aff=ebdssbdestsearch.

Pete Earley’s presentation is sponsored by the WCU Office of the President and the
Office of Services for Students with Disabilities as well as the academic departments
Criminal Justice, Health, Psychology, and Public Policy & Administration. Off-campus
sponsors are Brandywine Valley Counseling & Neurofeedback Center, Chester County MH/100,
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) on Campus, and the National Alliance on
Mental Illness (NAMI) Main Line, PA.

For more information, contact Dr. Michele P. Bratina, Department of Criminal Justice:
mbratina@wcupa.edu.

Also During Mental Illness Awareness Week

In addition to Earley’s presentation, a free panel presentation on the Stepping Up Initiative will take place Wednesday, Oct. 6, in Sykes Student Union Theater from 3 to 4:30
p.m. This event is open to the public and anyone can attend virtually by registering
for the Zoom link: https://wcupa.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwkd-uvrjsuG9QVSAVSKD08gMKbqDWpLyZI.

The Stepping Up Initiative is a national movement to reduce the number of people with mental illnesses in jails.
Stepping Up asks communities to come together to develop an action plan that can be
used to achieve measurable impact in local criminal justice systems of all sizes across
the country. For Chester County, Susanne Fink, Mental Health Diversion Specialist,
is coordinator for CIT and the Stepping Up Initiative. In addition to Fink, the other
panelists are from the Council of State Governments and Justice Center: Gretchen Frank,
Senior Policy Analyst, Behavioral Health and Kati Habert, Senior Policy Analyst.

Campus mental health services include the WCU Counseling Center (610-436-2301) and the WCU Community Mental Health Clinic (610-436-2510; cmhs@wcupa.edu). Or call the Chester County Mental Health Crisis Intervention Hotline at 1-877-918-2100.

This press release was produced by West Chester University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.