Parents and advocates urge advisers for students facing disciplinary proceedings as suicide-prevention measure

Parents who lost children to suicide and mental‑health advocates told the Higher Education Committee that House Bill 5426 — which would allow students to be accompanied by a nonparticipating adviser during disciplinary proceedings — could prevent tragedies.

Laura Bremer, co‑founder of the Wavestrong Foundation, testified the bill "isn't just a procedural update. It's a suicide prevention measure." She and other family witnesses described cases where students received late, alarming charge letters or lengthy silence from disciplinary offices that they said contributed to acute crisis responses. Steven Meyer, whose daughter Katie Myers died after a disciplinary process at another state university, urged the committee to allow advisers to receive timely case updates and, where helpful, to participate more fully.

Committee members pressed for operational clarity. University witnesses, including Kim Beardsley Carr (director of community standards at UConn), said most Connecticut institutions already permit a student to bring a support person; UConn policy allows a support person and provides trained advisers for Title IX cases. Witnesses and members discussed several implementation questions the committee will need to resolve: whether advisers should be limited to nonparticipatory roles; whether institutions must provide an adviser when a student lacks one; whether the adviser should receive the charge at the same time as the student; and whether the adviser should have access to case updates. Several family witnesses urged rules requiring prompt notice to advisers and biweekly updates so students do not ruminate in isolation.

No formal action was taken; committee members signaled they will consider amendments to clarify scope, notice and role of advisers before any vote.