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Everyone processes grief differently and that process can be as brief or as lengthy as it needs to be. Sometimes, when people who have lost a loved one share those feelings with others who have also lost someone, it can help that process.

That’s the idea behind the Memory Circle – an event created in partnership by Kent State Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), the Kent State of Well-being, the Student Recreation and Wellness Center and Parents and Families Engagement. The inaugural meeting was held in the Well Hub of the Student Recreation and Wellness Center on Oct. 17.

Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Parents and Families Engagement Shana Lee in the Well Hub with Meghan Factor-Page, assistant director, Kent State of Well-being,  and student assistants Evan Coates and Brynn Kler

Shana Lee, M.Ed., assistant dean of students and director of Parents and Families Engagement in Kent State's Division of Student Life is part of the team that created the Memory Circle.

“It’s not a support group,” she said. “But it is an event where we hope students will be able to come together to meet other students who are experiencing loss, to understand that they’re not in this alone.”

The Idea Came from a Kent State Parent

Lee shared that the origin of this event was idea from a Kent State parent who contacted Kent State Counseling and Psychological Services with a concern about her son as the one-year anniversary of the death of her husband, his father, was approaching. She had concerns that her son was experiencing some issues in coping with this loss while he was away from home at Kent State. It was her hope that the university would take action to develop programs that could help students who were facing these kinds of situations.

“The staff at CAPS reached out to several areas within the university, my area, Parents and Families Engagement, being one and Student Recreation and Wellness, to come up with an idea to bring those students together,” said Lee. “So that’s how we came up with the Memory Circle.”

A semi-circle of comfortable chairs welcomes participants to the Memory Circle

Lee said that she hopes the Memory Circle will be an annual event and as it continues, that students will find it to be a valuable experience.

Owen Seeger Destino in the Well Hub

Owen Seeger Destino, from Cleveland, Ohio, is a student employee in the Adventure Center, inside the Student Recreation and Wellness Center. He assisted Well Hub staff with the event. He said, “It is for students who are grieving to come and have a space where they feel comfortable and meet each other and have a sense of, I suppose, belonging between them.”