August 01, 2016
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into a law Monday a suicide-prevention bill that was named for a former University of Pennsylvania student.
The legislation, known as the "Madison Holleran Suicide Prevention Act," requires state colleges and universities to provide students with access to mental health professionals 24 hours a day in an effort to reduce student suicides.
The bill also calls for students to be notified, within 15 days of the start of each semester, about how to contact these professionals.
State Senator Kevin O'Toole, one of the bill's primary sponsors, said that suicide is the second-most common death among college students.
“Although we cannot erase the pain of losing a child to suicide, we can prevent the future loss of life by providing college students who are struggling right now with access to lifesaving support, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” O’Toole said in a statement.
Holleran was a 19-year-old freshman at Penn when she died from a fall off a parking garage near the school in January 2014.
A Facebook page created in Holleran's memory to promote suicide prevention praised the signing:
The law will go into effect in 90 days.
