Over the past year, Loyola Marymount University has launched Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) training, focusing its efforts on training staff and faculty. The university is now expanding its reach to students. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025, marks World Suicide Prevention Day. As we recognize the importance of suicide prevention on LMU’s campus, the community is joining this nationwide effort to equip everyday people with the tools to recognize and respond to signs of suicidal ideation.
QPR, developed by the QPR Institute begun in Washington state in 1999, is an evidence-based program designed to help participants prevent suicide through knowledge and action. Like CPR for medical emergencies, QPR empowers students to intervene in emotional crises. By learning three steps, question, persuade, and refer, students become lifelines for peers and connect them to professional help.
The QPR Gatekeeper training is an in-person, interactive training facilitated by a certified QPR trainer. These trainings, approximately 90 minutes long, are done in small groups of no more than 22 people to ensure participants have an in-depth training experience. Registration is required to participate since each training has a capacity limit. Once trained, the QPR Gatekeeper certification is valid for one year and this training is offered free to the LMU community.
LMU Medical Director Zarin Tejani, M.D., collaborated with a strategic planning group in Student Affairs to make this training possible at LMU. In May 2024, the first QPR Gatekeeper Training was held, primarily for a group of Student Affairs and Athletics staff to become trainers themselves. Tejani, with a background serving as a community pediatrician in West L.A., Tejani has frequently addressed mental health concerns and recognized the need to break down barriers and increase access. “Being a medical director at LMU starting in spring 2023 allowed me an opportunity to apply my clinical experience and skills to the population here, and I envisioned bolstering our approach to harm reduction as a way to help the community of LMU at large,” said Tejani. “A vital component to harm reduction in college health includes suicide prevention training.”
QPR training is one step in fostering a community where people know how to offer hope, especially to students, through meaningful connection, which is key to strengthening LMU’s support and prevention efforts. Since its launch in summer 2024, 170 staff members, 6 faculty, and 33 students have received this life-saving training at LMU. It is the current LMU student community that has inspired this network of care. “LMU students continue to amaze me,” said Tejani. “They have weathered schooling and socializing challenges,” said Tejani. “It is important to me that we have as many people as possible in our community who are knowledgeable on how to offer hope to anyone, and students in particular, as they navigate the complexities of their inner and outer worlds.”
At LMU, where cura personalis, care for the whole person, remains central, QPR training extends the university’s commitment to holistic well-being. This initiative encourages students to become gatekeepers of hope, equipped not only with empathy but also with practical skills to intervene. For many, this training marks a turning point, revealing that anyone — not just therapists — can support someone in pain. Our community needs to be present, informed, and ready to ask tough questions.
For Satinder Gill, Psy.D. ABPP, director of Student Psychological Services, the QPR Gatekeeper Trainings demonstrate the LMU community’s commitment to prevention, de-stigmatizing mental health challenges, and encouraging those around the community to seek professional help. “Being able to speak openly and directly about an issue impacting a significant portion of our population helps us develop the courage necessary to find the solution,” said Gill. “While we know medical and mental health interventions are effective, we also know there are internal/personal and external/systematic barriers that make it challenging to seek help. Having the entire LMU community invest in learning about this topic and supporting each other is an incredible asset to us.”
As this training program expands to the LMU student community, one of the first groups trained was the Wellness Educators, just a few weeks ago, by Tejani. Among those students was Wellness Educator Sky Coleman ’26, a psychology major and African American studies minor from Ladera Heights, who shared how the program welcomes students of all backgrounds to become trained. “By taking the course for ourselves, we are more equipped to aid in crisis situations and by having open conversations about it whether it be at tablings or presentations,” said Coleman. “QPR training is important because it gives students the basic knowledge of how to practice suicide prevention. It does not require a mental health degree, as we serve as a bridge between crisis and connecting individuals to appropriate care. I also think it eliminates misconceptions about suicide and what we as students can do when someone is contemplating completing suicide.”
On Wednesday, Sept. 10, LMU’s Wellness Educators will be tabling at Wellness Wednesday to commemorate World Suicide Prevention Day. They will be available to share more information about QPR training, how to access it, and offer promotional prizes for students to take home. The entire LMU community is also encouraged to sign up for training and team training is also available by request.
As the program launches, LMU joins a global network of over 1 million trained QPR gatekeepers. This unified effort transforms the mental health narrative, breaks down stigma, and builds critical support. More than a program, it’s a movement that begins with you. For answers to questions, email [email protected].
