Creighton University students, faculty and members of the Omaha community gathered in the Mike and Josie Harper Center to participate in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s (AFSP) Out of the Darkness Walk on April 5. For its third consecutive year, Creighton’s Active Minds student organization and Student Counseling Services partnered with AFSP to host the march, which was completed along the campus’s main walk, the California Street Pedestrian Mall, to show support for those struggling with mental health and bring awareness to the issue.
“It’s a very deep and very real thing to struggle with, and so I think that when we think about this large march that’s going on–that we’re doing today–it is encompassing all of that,” College of Arts and Sciences senior Aaliyah Grafe said. “It is encompassing those who are still standing today, those who are still walking today, those who may be sitting down but that we’re walking for them in honor of…[them or] even those who aren’t still with us today. We are honoring and we are walking, and we are remembering their faces, their names, their stories—and that’s what’s important.”
Grafe, who serves as the Out of Darkness Walk chair, was one of those responsible for the emergence of this event on Creighton’s campus, as she was inspired by the AFSP’s Out of the Darkness march that took place in her hometown of Columbus, NE. With a passion for this march building since her high school career and the aid of Creighton Associate Director for Student Care and Outreach Sangeetha Kumar and 2022 Active Minds President Charlie McNellis, Grafe was able to make this opportunity of suicide victim remembrance and awareness accessible directly on Creighton’s campus.
“I look at this event as dropping a pebble in a pond. … It was a…tiny pebble…and then slowly that ripple affected more people. … This year, I think that rock has just become even bigger. We are now [making a] ‘splash.’ … But our ripple affects much more than just Creighton. … It affects…anybody that you can think of…[and this] ripple has just really reached so much more than we thought that it really could have,” Grafe said.
From small children being pushed in strollers to elders within the community, over 130 individuals dawned brightly colored necklaces, shirts and smiles of support as they honored those who had suffered. According to Creighton’s Senior Director of Student Counseling Services and Violence Intervention and Prevention Center Jennifer Peter, Ph.D., having such a diverse participation is crucial to spreading awareness regarding the effects of suicide.
“Suicide doesn’t discriminate. … I think it’s important because we have a lot of students that come from cultures where they weren’t allowed to talk about those things before. Mental health was ‘just get over it,’ ‘that’s not real’ or ‘pray about it.’… All those things can be valid, but they also may not work,” Peter said. “And feeling some of those things actually stops students from asking for help because…they’re afraid maybe their parent will find out, or they don’t know how to do it because they’ve never been able to before. So, that’s why I think it’s important to know that this isn’t just a certain population.”
The event also served as a fundraiser to aid suicide prevention efforts. Numerous groups of participants were able to register at fundraiser hubs and compete against one another to raise the largest amount. During the opening ceremony, it was unveiled that participants raised a total of $3,015. College of Nursing freshman Hayden Doyle’s group was deemed as the highest fundraising group.
“We were so surprised. I had no idea we were going to raise the most money. It was…kind of an accident. We just sent it around to our families, and all our families care a lot about it, and we were just happy that we could help,” Doyle said.
Doyle, after viewing an ad for the event on Instagram, encouraged her friends to walk and fundraise with her. According to Grafe, it is the unifying experiences like Doyle and her friends’ that aid in the value of the Out of Darkness Walk.
“I’ve had people from previous events [that] were like, ‘I didn’t even know my roommate was showing up today. And I found her 30 minutes after we both left.’ [I said], ‘That’s insane. The fact that you two literally live five feet away from each other in the same bedroom, and neither of you realized how important this was to you.’ … that is life [changing.] That is truly [what] this out of the darkness that we are talking about [is], and we are trying to see the change being done,” Grafe said.
In addition to social participation, participants were also given the opportunity to connect with many different resources and organizations that aim to provide counseling and help to those struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health. Organizations such as the Charles Drew Health Center, the Kim Foundation and Creighton’s own counseling services were among those that hosted informational tables during the event. According to Peter, the tabling aspect of this event helps remove the scary feelings that are associated with seeking help.
“And that’s why we try to get out, because sometimes people are scared of us. And I hope you can see we’re not scary people. We’re just people. So, I think that’s why we try to get out more and do things. And then if somebody’s not comfortable on campus, there are so many things around us that can help you,” Peter said.
Among the many accessible contact and service information flyers, along with spirit merchandise, the Kim Foundation made available tools to aid in the at-home prevention of suicide that included gun trigger locks and Deterra drug deactivation kits.
As this event does take place on a college campus, Grafe and Peter emphasized the importance for college students to recognize that help is available to them, regardless of the intensity of those suicidal thoughts or effects. While Peter states that this age group is prone to such struggles due to the ever-changing nature of college and adulthood, Grafe further establishes the idea that these thoughts and sufferings can arise from the external discouragement of peers as well.
“It is very easy for students like myself to ‘slip through the cracks’ at Creighton. …When I tell people I came to Creighton for criminal justice and then all of a sudden, I switched to social work…people are like ‘Oh you’re getting your ‘MRS. degree?’ like, ‘You’re looking for a ring before spring’ kind of thing? And I’m like, ‘Excuse me?’ Just because I am not pre-law, pre-dent or pre-med does not mean I don’t have an active place here. … I have seen that culture at Creighton since my freshman year. [It has] started to shift, thankfully,” Grafe said.
With the countless resources that are provided on Creighton’s campus, from in-person counseling services to online support videos via Therapy Assistance Online, Grafe and Peter believe that the Out of the Darkness Walk sheds light not only on the issue of suicide itself but also on the many individuals and organizations that are available to those who would like to seek help.
“You can talk all day about cardiovascular disease, dental problems—everything that our medical school and our dental school [does]. But suicide is the one preventable disease that is out there,” Grafe said. “And we are doing that prevention work, and I’ve seen that prevention work in action. And so, I think that is the core of this event and the core of why March is so important.”