Mount Mary University has received a $500,000 gift from alumna Billie Kubly to expand mental health services on campus, the school announced.
The Billie (Wenger) Kubly Endowed Fund will be used to support counseling and mental health services on campus in perpetuity. Kulby and her husband, retired orthopedic surgeon Michael Kubly, made the gift in memory of their son, Charlie, who took his life at the age of 28 after a lengthy battle with depression.
Kubly also said the donation would help meet the greater need for mental health care for students in college.
“A young person may have been able to hide (mental illness) at home, but sometimes it surfaces when they go off to college,” she said. “It is important for schools to provide mental health services for their students.”
Sarah Olejniczak, Mount Mary dean of student affairs, said the donation would be used by the university’s counseling center to “better serve the complex mental health needs of today’s college students through group outreach and educational programming, along with enhanced walk-in services and crisis response.”
Mount Mary is adding three graduate student interns to work with its two professional counselors this year, adding about 80 hours of student services each week.
