Source: The Sacramento Bee
Sarah Shulze was a star athlete on the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s track and field and cross country teams. She was also a political science major with a passion for women’s rights. She loved travel and adventure, and was a role model to her two younger sisters.
On April 13, 2022, Sarah died by suicide. From the outside, she was always smiling and looked like she had it all together, her mother Brigitte Shulze said. But inside, the 22-year-old from California’s Ventura County was dealing with anxiety exacerbated by an unhealthy team environment.
“We felt so helpless after Sarah died and there were so many questions,” Shulze said. “We later found out that she had told her coach she had thoughts of suicide. And the coach, for whatever her reasons, didn’t go forward with anything. When you send your child off to college, and especially as a student athlete, it is the coaches and the trainers that spend the most time with your child. To us, it was such a sad fact that this coach was given this information, and just didn’t have the training and the tools to do anything with it.”
Now, Shulze is working with California lawmakers to make training on student mental health mandatory for all coaches and trainers at public and private higher education institutions across the state. This training — which at minimum, must cover suicide prevention education — would have to be completed every two years.
Assembly Bill 1985, authored by Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, was passed unanimously by the California Assembly in May. If it makes its way through the Senate and is signed, the measure will be known as the Sarah Shulze’s Law.
So far, no lawmaker has voted against the bill.