Concordia Student Nightline Calls for Help

New CSU Club Aims to Help Students With Anything, At Anytime

NewsVince Morello — Published February 27, 2017

The Concordia Student Nightline is an initiative that was kick-started this semester by two psychology undergraduate students, Jade Se, president, and Sophie Lemieux, vice-president of external relations of the nightline.

“It is a non-judgmental, confidential listening service for students for all purposes and all type of needs,” said Se. “If it’s crisis management, if you need aid, someone to talk to, or someone to listen to you, this would be that type of service.”

The initiative is based on the McGill Student Nightline, which has been operating since 1984 according to their Facebook page. Se, a former McGill student, took inspiration and decided to launch a project for Concordia students.

While its operating hours are yet to be determined, volunteers will be expected to take calls at night on a variety of issues, according to Se. She explained that callers can talk to someone about anything, from dealing with anxiety, to having a bad drug trip, being lost in the city, seeking personal advice, or just wanting someone to talk to.

Se stressed that volunteers won’t be equipped to handle any serious problems—like those that put the caller or others in danger—but will be able to give information or redirect people to other services where trained professionals can provide specific aid.

“We are not saviours, that’s not the purpose of this thing, and we’re not allowed to do that, so there’s specific boundaries we have to respect,” Se said.

All Concordia students are welcome to volunteer, regardless of their program. To apply, students have to send a letter of intent explaining why they want to be a part of the nightline, and an unofficial copy of their transcript to cnightlineexternal@gmail.com.

“We want the group to be as diverse as possible [in order] to understand the issues going on at school,” Lemieux said.

Se explained that they are working with the Centre for Gender Advocacy so that volunteers can receive sensitivity training.

Lemieux has also reached out to Concordia’s department of psychology to get a trained psychologist on board. Ideally, they would be available to help the volunteers should need be.

However, the group—which is part of the Concordia Student Union—has run into some roadblocks in trying to get off the ground.

The project hasn’t received any funding as of yet. While they haven’t managed to get a working phone number, nor an office space, Lemieux said that they’re looking into fundraising in order to generate money.

Rami Yahia, the CSU’s internal affairs coordinator, explained that CSU office spaces are extremely limited right now.

Se and Lemieux have made a call-out for volunteers and executives of the club. They are looking for a VP internal, an events coordinator, and a treasurer.