Student-led initiative brings attention to mental health awareness

According to MentalHealth.gov, mental health “includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices.” 

Where the term ‘mental health’ can have a negative connotation, junior, Carter Atchison and others within the Wofford community are working to squash the stigma and paint mental health in a positive light. We need to be asking each other, “How’s your mental health?” and encouraging healthy lifestyles, Atchison explained.  

As part of a multi-faceted effort to bring more attention to mental health awareness on Wofford’s campus, Atchison and his fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, partnered with Kappa Delta to organize a cookout fundraiser for the Jed Foundation. The Jed Foundation was founded in 2000 as a “nonprofit that exists to protect emotional health and prevent suicide for our nation’s teens and young adults,” according to their website, jedfoundation.org. The foundation was already an established partner of Wofford College and SAE, Atchison said, so it seemed a natural partner for this event as well. 

The cookout, held on Tuesday, Oct. 9, was “not just to raise money for a charity, [but to] impact our community, [because] mental health impacts everyone,” Atchison said. 

The cookout was from 5-7 p.m., but event organizers held mental health-related activities all day. At 11 a.m., the Wofford community was invited to hear Lisa Pappas, a Wofford parent who lost her son to suicide in 2015, speak in Leonard Auditorium. Her testimonial was followed by remarks from Lauren Halstrand, a recently hired employee of Wofford’s Wellness Center. 

After the speaking event, attendees were encouraged to sign a banner pledging their openness to talk about mental health. The banner was later hung in the pavilion where the cookout was held as a reminder of the event’s purpose.  

As a way to draw out the implications of mental health awareness past a single day’s activities, wristbands and cards designed by Atchison, senior SAE president, Miles Bidwell and Wofford’s Dean for Student Success, Dr. Boyce Lawton, were given out at the cookout. Both items had the slogan: “Conversations: Let’s open up about mental health,” on them. Atchison hopes both items will be a recurring reminder to the Wofford community that reaching out is the best way to support each other in the effort to establish and maintain ‘healthy’ mental health. 

Atchison thanked both Campus Union and Dr. Boyce Lawton, along with the Wellness Center and other groups on campus, for providing support for the event. The fundraiser portion of the event well-surpassed the initial fundraising goal of $4,000; by 6 p.m. on the night of the cookout $6,300 had been raised, a number that is expected to rise to $7,000 when the money is finalized. Atchison hopes that the lasting effect of mental health awareness on Wofford’s campus is equally as significant as the money raised for the Jed Foundation and encourages members of the Wofford community to remember that, when it comes to mental health, “we are in this together.” 

Photo Caption: Piles of ‘Conversations’ bracelets sat on the sign-in table at the cookout for attendees to take home as a reminder that mental health is an ongoing conversation.