Hundreds of backpacks will be displayed Monday, April 29, on the UA Mall as part of a national tour that fosters discussion about mental health and suicide awareness.
Each backpack represents a college-aged life lost to suicide. Visitors are invited to walk among the backpacks to see the photographs and read the stories attached to them.
Many of the backpacks were donated by families who lost a student to suicide.
The Send Silence Packing exhibit will be on display from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the event is open to the public.
For more than 10 years, the Send Silence Packing exhibit has traveled to campuses across the country to bring awareness to mental illness and suicide.
This exhibit is presented by Active Minds, a nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education for students.
The exhibit is designed to raise awareness about the impact of suicide and connect people to mental health resources.
The event is sponsored by the UA student chapter of Active Minds and UA Campus Health Service. It is co-sponsored by the Student Health Advocacy Committee, the UA Residence Hall Association and the UA Healthiest Campus Coalition. Counselors from UA Counseling and Psych Services will be on hand, as well.
“Our main goal is to promote mental health awareness to students across campus,” said UA Active Minds president Jasmine Kiongo in a news release. “I have seen so many students struggle mentally and not know where to receive help, and we wanted to do something about it. Having this event here at the university will be a great physical representation of the amazing resources that are out there to help students succeed and become the best person they can be.”
UA Campus Health has offered 15 suicide prevention workshops this school year for students, faculty and staff. The classes, named QPR after the “Question, Persuade, Refer” protocol, help people learn how to recognize clues that may indicate someone is contemplating suicide. The next class will be May 2.
In addition to campus counseling and psych services, there is a national Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) and a crisis text line — text “Brave” to 741-741.
