Since the fall semester began, at least a dozen colleges have recognized Katie Meyer, the former Stanford soccer goalie who died by suicide.
Stanford is not among those schools.
On Thursday, the Stanford women's soccer team promoted mental health awareness at its game against Miami in Palo Alto, California. But the team did not honor Meyer, who helped lead Stanford to the 2019 national title and died in 2022.
“The Meyers want to be clear that while they are extremely disappointed in Stanford’s administration and their decision not to honor Katie, they have all the love, respect and support for Katie’s teammates who are now seniors playing in the mental health game,’’ attorney Kim Dougherty, who is representing the Meyers family, told USA TODAY Sports by email.
Stanford did not respond to multiple requests for comment USA TODAY Sports made by email.
Meyer was honored at the team’s mental health awareness game in 2022 and 2023.
In November 2022, the Meyers family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Stanford and the civil matter is being heard in the Superior Court of California in the County of Santa Clara.
Last week, before the mental health awareness game, a Stanford employee said Meyer would not be honored this year.
“We’ll have a similar wellness wall as we’ve had in the past encouraging fans to post notes on how they maintain positive mental health,’’ Tyler Geivett, a senior director of communications in the Stanford athletics department, said by email. ”A few members of the team also filmed short statements promoting mental health awareness and we’ll put together a social media post prior to the match and then air a short video in (the) venue at halftime.’’
Geivett said Stanford's seniors each write Meyer's initials on themselves before each match. "They did not do anything additional for Thursday’s match,'' he added, referring to the mental health awareness match against Miami.
For each of the 13 schools that confirmed they honored Meyer, according to Dougherty, the recognition centered around acknowledgement of Katie’s Save, a non-profit foundation started by Meyer’s parents, Steve and Gina Meyer.
A key initiative of the foundation was the effort to ensure college students the right to an adviser when they faced an alleged violation of a school’s code of student conduct. On Saturday, the Katie’s Save bill became law in California.
Meyer’s parents have asserted Stanford provided inadequate support for their daughter during a disciplinary matter they say led to her death.
“Stanford has repeatedly failed to provide student athletes with the necessary support and resources to succeed under the pressures it places on them,’’ Dougherty said. “Putting on a mental health awareness game while refusing to honor Katie Meyer, who lost her life because of Stanford’s mental health ignorance, clearly shows their utter disregard for real life impacts and only serves as lip service. This is very hurtful to the Meyer family, as other universities around the nation continue to recognize Katie, but her own school she loved, will not.”
As schools continue to honor Meyer, her parents have provided the respective women's soccer teams plastic wristbands, temporary tattoos and stickers that mention the Katie's Save foundation. When Santa Clara played Washington on Aug. 29, players from both teams donned tattoos on their arms or legs, according to Michelle Meyers, Director of Soccer Operations for the Santa Clara women's soccer team.
On Sept. 8, before Duke's game against East Tennessee State, Duke's players wore warm-up shirts with the logos of Katie's Save and "Morgan's Message,'' a non-profit started after former Duke lacrosse player Morgan Rodgers died by suicide in 2019, according to Lindy Brown, senior associate director of dommunications at Duke. The Blue Devils players also received items from Katie's Save.
William & Mary handed out wristbands and information about Katie's Save during its game against North Carolina-Wilmington on Sept. 22 and provided the QR code to donate to Katie's Save, according to Jack Angelucci, associate director of media relations for William & Mary athletics.
"We also had public-address reads throughout the match telling (Meyer's) story and directing people to the table for more information,'' he said.
If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call 988 any time day or night, or chat online. Crisis Text Line also provides free, 24/7, confidential support via text message to people in crisis when they dial 741741.
Follow Josh Peter on social media @joshlpeter11
