College Faculty Member Grief Over Deaths of Current and Former Students

Abstract

This article is an autoethnographic exploration of college faculty grief. Over a career, a college teacher is likely to encounter deaths of current and former students. The rich connections that can develop in a faculty–student relationship can make for strong grief. Issues that can complicate faculty grief include regrets that might be unique to faculty–student relationships and information about the deceased that the faculty member feels obligated to keep confidential and cannot mention while processing their grief with others. Faculty members may rarely have the benefit of attending funeral or memorial services for students and former students, but with the deaths of current or recent students, a faculty member is likely to have colleagues and students who knew the deceased with whom to talk. With deaths of students from long ago, a faculty member is likely to be limited to processing grief with people who never knew the deceased.