Active Minds hosted Send Silence Packing last Friday on Palmer Lawn. The event was a traveling exhibit that illustrated the number of college students committing suicide using backpacks.
Backpacks were scattered across Palmer Lawn, with each backpack representing one of the college students that commit suicide each year. Some backpacks featured a story about a student who committed suicide. Among the backpacks stood inspirational signs proclaiming that “you are important.” Stevens Institute of Technology has one of the highest suicide rates of college campuses across the country.
Courtney Birch, an Active Minds tour staff member, was present at the event to provide context about the event. The national organization of Active Minds brings the display to college campuses across the country. At every event, Active Minds has counselors on site and passes out resources on coping skills.
Birch noted that the event was brought to campus because mental health is not talked about enough. She also noted that there is a huge stigma on campus regarding mental health, and wanted to remind survivors that they are not alone. “Keep asking and keep searching till something helps — something will,” said Birch to those struggling with mental health.
Active Minds received funding through multiple means to host the event. Active Minds is a probationary Recognized Student Organization (RSO) and is limited to a budget of $1,000 per semester. However, the Student Government Association (SGA) decided to approve a request of $2,500, half of the event’s cost, for the event despite Active Minds’ status as a probationary RSO. In order to get around this limitation, the SGA decided to “co-sponsor” the event with Active Minds, which allowed them to fund the event. The SGA Cabinet believed that they should co-sponsor the event due to the current campus climate. Despite the event being co-hosted on DuckLink, posters shared by Active Minds e-board members on Facebook did not feature the SGA logo.
Active Minds meets every other Wednesday at 9 p.m. Their next meeting will be on Oct. 10 in Morton 205.
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