Contact: Morgan Tubbs
STARKVILLE, Miss.--With the sad knowledge that more than a thousand college students nationwide commit suicide every year, two Mississippi State groups are working to raise awareness and provide support.
The university effort is being led by the Division of Student Affairs' Department of Relationship Violence and Outreach and campus chapter of Active Minds, an advocacy group.
Free to all, a two-part information-sharing event will be held Tuesday [April 10].
From 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Active Minds members are organizing a "Send Silence Packing" backpack display on the Drill Field to help educate about the tragedies of student suicides. At 6 p.m., featured speaker Jordan Burnham will share his story in McCool Hall's Taylor Auditorium.
"It is my hope that our students, faculty and staff will join the members of the MSU chapter of Active Minds and come out to support and encourage, and to bring attention to the importance of the mental wellness of college students," said Beatrice Tatem, relationship violence and outreach director.
Burnham is a 20-year-old college student from Philadelphia, Pa. As a high school senior, he attempted suicide by jumping nine stories from a bedroom window.
Beyond causing severe injuries, the traumatic experience forced Burnham to confront his battle with depression and led him to use his experience to help others in similar situations. He has shared his story with national audiences via CNN, Good Morning America, People magazine, Sports Illustrated, and USA Today, among other media.
"After falling over 100 feet, by miracle I survived and now I am trying to make a positive from such a horrible nightmare," Burnham writes in his blog, "Life After the Fall." (For more information on Burnham and Active Minds, visit www.activeminds.org.)
Mississippi State University is online at www.msstate.edu.
For more on the Tuesday events, contact Tatem's office at 662-325-2090.