NAMI On Campus Suicide Prevention Activity

Start the Conversation and Send Silence Packing

NAMI On Campus is excited to announce that we are gearing up for our first annual Suicide Awareness event.  Suicide claims the life of 1,100 college students every year.  It’s time to start raising awareness and talking about how we can help our fellow students get through the tough times and understand that we want them to continue their lives, not end them.  The theme of the event is “Sending Silence Packing.”

Memorialize your loved ones

For those of you who have already lost friends and family to suicide, we want to help you memorialize them during this event.   To memorialize a loved one lost to suicide, contact namioncampus@louisiana.edu.  The suggested sponsorship for the memorial is $10 for faculty and staff and $5 for students.  Discounts are available for multiple backpacks.  In addition to their name, memorials may contain pictures, dates and thoughts.  The money raised from the sponsorships will be used to help defray the cost of memorials.

What can you do?

In order to have a successful event, we want to collect 1,100 backpacks to display and visually demonstrate the loss our campuses face.  You may donate new or gently used empty backpacks in the lobby of Student Health Services.

Event Proceeds

50% of proceeds will go towards sponsored research projects for UL Lafayette undergraduate and graduate students working in the area of mental health. A portion of the backpacks will be donated to our homeless population and to flood victims.