By Christian Tufino
SUNY Plattsburgh’s Out of the Darkness walk shines some light on the importance of suicide awarness and prevention April 11.
Starting and ending at the Amite Plaza between the Angell College Center and Myers Fine Arts Building, the walk follows the Saranac River and loops back in a circle.
Prior to in-person registration, 365 participants were signed up to walk, and made up over 40 teams. More than $6,400 dollars were raised for this year’s Out of the Darkness event.
Before the walk started, collaborating organizations SUNY Plattsburgh University Police, Morgan’s Message and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention tabled across campus, providing shirts, food and various other items that showed support for suicide prevention.
Robert Henn, a volunteer tabling for the America Foundation for Suicide Prevention, gave out beads that represent those in the participants’ life who have struggled with suicidal ideation or mental illness.
“So each bead represents a different struggle, and the whole idea is that you put them around your neck and show that you’re open about your struggles,” Henn said.
For example, white beads represent walking for a participant’s child, green beads represent someone walks to support their personal fight and blue beads show a participant walks to show support for all people struggling.
There were many colors available, and the walk was made vibrant by the collections of beads worn by walkers.
Chief of University Police Patrick Rascoe was tabling for UP’s team before the walk. Roscoe handed out coffee and snacks to participants while telling people about the support they can receive on campus from University Police.
“It’s a big part of UP’s work to make sure our students feel welcomed, that they feel happy, that they feel supported — and UP includes our therapy dog,” Rascoe said.
One way UP has shown its commitment to supporting healthy students is with its new Crisis Intervention Team. Five UP officers received special training to become certified in handling mental health related emergencies on campus with a softer and kinder disposition.
Amanda Eohen, a Morgan’s Message representative tabling before the walk, explained how the group is committed to spreading awareness of the mental health struggles student athletes face.
“Morgan’s Message is about taking a shot at mental health, specifically student athletes, we just want to spread the message that our mental health matters to,” Eohen said.
Morgan’s Message holds monthly meetings with students on campus. They talk about communication in meetings, and have dedicated games where each sport has a written speech discussing mental health.
Karen McGrath, vice president for enrollment and student success, has been participating in the Out of the Darkness event for two years, and works to destigmatize and support those facing mental health challenges.
“We’re really dedicated to bringing light to suicide prevention and mental health, and making sure everyone knows they’re not alone,” McGrath said.
The Out of the Darkness staff worked hard to reach out to other departments to spread awareness and support to as many people as they can.
“We really leveraged different departments and different organisations and different athletic teams, we even wrote to some of our community partners to really ask for participation,” McGrath said.
