DAWN NGUYEN/THE CREIGHTONIAN
Students write uplifting messages on a message board during a campus mental health event at Creighton University. The board is used to encourage peers and remind participants they are supported and not alone in their struggles and challenges on campus community support.
On Saturday, Creighton hosted its annual Out of the Darkness walk, an event that came about through a collaboration with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Over 300 people attended that morning, and a total of $9,927 was raised as of Monday, according to Creighton’s donor page on the AFSP website.
“When this walk began four years ago today, we had a hundred participants. I am proud to say that number has tripled,” Stella Glode, a Creighton senior and the Out Of The Darkness Walk chair at Creighton, said at the event’s welcome ceremony.
Once the participants registered for the walk, they filtered into the Mutual of Omaha Ballroom inside the V. J. and Angela Skutt Student Center by the dozens and milled about several tables with mental health-related resources, granting avenues for those who needed them and information for those who wanted to support AFSP. The partnership involved both Student Counseling Services, as well as Active Minds, another mental health nonprofit with a chapter on campus. Both organizations had tables full of brochures, pens and other goodies.
Eventually, the participants settled down among the chairs for the welcome ceremony. There were four speakers, including Glode. Sangeetha Kumar, associate director for Creighton’s Student Care and Outreach, opened the ceremony with a celebration of the progress that AFSP has made during their four years at Creighton.
“We were hoping for maybe a thousand dollars,” she remarked to a cacophony of applause.
But the reality of what AFSP fighting for brought the room down to a somber level. Ashley Howe, the Nebraska AFSP director, spoke about why the walk and the donations it garnered were so important.
“Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students,” she voiced the sobering fact to a quiet audience.
To show how suicide has affected their own lives, event participants received beaded necklaces with different symbolic colors, with each color meaning anything from sympathetic support to loss of a loved one. Sophia Childress, who will be chair of Creighton’s chapter next year, walked the audience through the emotional moment, granting space for each kind of necklace.
Luke Schreiber, a sophomore studying biology and an executive member of the interfraternity council, was one student who received a necklace to show his support for the cause. He thought that the event showcased Creighton’s Jesuit values in a strong way.
“You never really know what some is going through,” he remarked in a conversation before the ceremony began. “And so, bringing awareness to it and making sure you’re there for others is something I take pride in.”
The actual walk began right before noon. Starting at the Skutt Student Center, the walk went all the way down to Morrison Stadium, before looping back to the west side of campus. The top donating group was the law school, and they led the charge on the way to Morrison, their banner waving in the wind.
After the walk, Childress talked about what the event meant to her, and how she’s seen the impact of The Out Of The Darkness walk.
DAWN NGUYEN/THE CREIGHTONIAN
Participants walk along the Mall for the Out of the Darkness Walk, which drew more than 300 participants and raised nearly $10,000 for suicide prevention efforts Saturday morning. Participants wore colored beads, with each color representing a different reason for walking, such as struggling with suicidal thoughts, losing a loved one or supporting someone currently going through it.
“AFSP has so many community resources, and the money we’ve raised will go to those resources … we are so close to hitting the $10,000 mark. At the $10,000 mark, we become a North Sta,” she said.
North Star donators receive special recognition from the foundation.
Some of the community resources that the donations are going towards include paying for therapy for those who can’t afford it, grief resources and advocacy for legislation that improves access to mental health care.
There are many ways that Creighton students interested in supporting AFSP and other mental health organizations can get involved, according to comments by Golde after the event.
“AFSP does Out of the Darkness walks for the community as well. There’s usually a really large one that’s hosted in November. Everybody is allowed to join that, so Creighton students would probably love to go to [it]. Other events that Creighton students might be interested in, we partner deeply with the Active Minds club, which is a mental health club dedicated to supporting its students on campus,” Glode explained.
But even if there’s so much to be done, it’s important that to recognize what has been accomplished already.
“We’ve seen an insane amount of growth since this has started. We’re at over a 350% increase in attendance and a 10,000% increase in fundraising, which is just absolutely impeccable. So, I’m really thrilled to be able to share those numbers, and that is just a testament of the fact that Bluejays do care about each other,” Glode glowed.
The walk to Morrison where the statue of Billy the Bluejay stood proudly was full of the community that makes up Creighton –– a flock of laughter and joy that left darkness behind.
As Howe put it at the end of her speech at the welcome ceremony, “Every step you take is a step towards saving a life. And none of us have to take that step alone.”