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Student Association

SA to kick off Mental Health Awareness Week on the Quad

Madeline Foreman | Staff photographer

SA will offer different activities and events throughout the week that highlight the intersectionality of mental health.

By Maggie HicksSenior staff writer

Student Association will offer activities and presentations during its fourth annual Mental Health Awareness Week that focus on the different forms of mental health.

This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is set to kick off Monday on Syracuse University’s Quad. The week will promote increased awareness of resources at the Barnes Center at The Arch and focus on intersectionality.

Intersectionality

Focusing on the intersection between one’s identity and their mental health, SA will hold a panel on intersectionality Tuesday in Huntington Beard Crouse Hall’s Gifford Auditorium.

Faculty and staff from a variety of student offices — including the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the LGBT Resource Center, the Counseling Center and the Disability Cultural Center —  will share individual stories and discuss the role of one’s background and demographics in mental health.



“It shouldn’t be a taboo conversation — mental health can show up in so many different ways and everyone views and deals with it in a certain way,” said Lujane Juburi, co-chair of SA Diversity Affairs committee. “We are hoping this panel will show that you shouldn’t have a cookie cutter way of facing these issues.”

As the final celebration of the week, SA is hosting its second annual Stop the Stigma Concert on Thursday in Hendricks Chapel.

The concert will feature six main acts, including the acapella groups Groove Stand, Otto Tunes, The Mandarins, Main Squeeze and Orange Appeal.

The Black Reign Step Team, Otto’s Empire Belly Dance Troupe and Mickey the Flying Busman will also act. Each group will have about ten minutes to perform through an aspect of mental health that is important to them.

“The intersection between art, music and mental health is going to give students a different perspective on mental health,” said SA Student Life Committee Co-Chair John Jankovic, “and hopefully start conversations about how it is displayed in different ways through communities and individuals.”

The Barnes Center at The Arch

Another goal of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is to encourage students to use The Barnes Center at The Arch as a resource for all aspects of their health and wellbeing, SA President Mackenzie Mertikas said.

“One of our hopes for this year is to really work with the Barnes Center even beyond Mental Health Awareness Week to make sure we are constantly continuing programming throughout the year,” she said.

SA will promote the different exercise classes offered at The Arch and will host meditations at the center on Wednesday.

The Arch is helping to cover the cost of t-shirts for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, which SA members will distribute on the Quad. It will cost SA less than last year’s $2,600 price tag, in large part because they will not offer the inflatables present last year. SA decided to cut the funding for the inflatables due to concerns about the weather, Mertikas said.

SA will instead use donated corn hole boards, soccer balls, basket balls and other sporting equipment.

Week-long activities

Games, informational stations, activities and free merchandise will be available on the Quad from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. throughout Mental Health Awareness Week.

A ribbon-tying activity will take place on the Quad throughout the week. Students who have struggled with or know someone who has struggled with mental health are encouraged to tie a ribbon around a piece of chain link fence to represent that no one is alone.

People often don’t realize the amount of people dealing with the same problems others are, Mertikas said.

“Seeing how many ribbons are tied on the fence by the end of the week shows students that we are a campus of 15,000 people and a lot of us are going through a lot of the same things,” she said.

Another feature of the Mental Health Awareness Week is the Humans of Syracuse campaign. Based on the Humans of New York Instagram account, SA will post images and stories from selected students on its Instagram and Facebook pages that share the aspects of mental health those students have struggled with.





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