One student organization at Ball State decided to take a step forward in spreading awareness on suicide among college students right after National Suicide Prevention Week.
The Ball State chapter of Active Minds brought the organization's nationally recognized Send Silence Packing program to campus on Sept. 14.
1,100 backpacks lay throughout University Green, each one marked with a personal story to put a face to those who committed suicide.
The program started at Ball State and will end Oct. 15 at the University of California, Riverside. Along the route, it will make stops at 10 other universities in order to help spread awareness about the second leading cause of death among college students, according to activeminds.org.
In 2013, 41,149 people in the U.S. died from suicide, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The display grabbed the attention of many students walking past the University Green. They walked through the rows of backpacks, reading the personal stories attached to them.
Freshman Staci Seber was on her way to class on the morning of Sept. 14 when she passed by University Green. She had no idea what the display was about before she went over to look.
“Once I got closer, I was pretty surprised," Seber said. “I think it’s helpful to students. It creates awareness about suicide among young adults and can help teach students to identify problems among their friends.”
Jake Griffin, the president of the Ball State chapter of Active Minds, had been planning this since last October.
“To really get the word out, we needed to do a big awareness thing like this,” Griffin said. “We wanted to have a global speaker; someone that a lot of people would hear the name of and recognize.”
That global speaker is Kevin Briggs, who spoke Sept. 14, not only about the experiences he had helping other people while patrolling the Golden Gate Bridge, but also his personal experiences with physical and mental challenges.
“Bringing a speaker and program to campus that openly discuss mental health issues, and with someone willing to share their journey, it can help bring the issues to light among students,” Griffin added.
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