Out of Darkness campus walk aims to prevent suicide

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for college age students, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Approximately 11.9 percent of college students suffer from an anxiety disorder, and approximately seven percent to nine percent deal with depression, the JED Foundation reports.

In times when mental health related issues affect so many young people, students on Waynesburg University’s campus are working to make a dent in those numbers.

For the second annual year, Waynesburg students gathered together Saturday from 2-4 p.m. to participate in The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Out of the Darkness Walk.

Last year was only the first year Waynesburg participated in this event. The day was organized by the Bonner Scholars and senior music ministry major Briana Ryan, who headed the event again this year.

After 250 to 300 people attended last year’s walk, Ryan was hoping for a large turnout again this year. The total number of students, faculty, staff and community members signed up to walk in the event Saturday was 158, and the actual attendance eclipsed the sign ups. They raised a total of $3,477.

Adrienne Tharp, coordinator of the Bonner Scholar Program, assisted the students in planning the event. She said she believes the walk is a unique opportunity for the Waynesburg campus and community.

“It’s important for students to know that they’re never alone. There is plenty of support out there,” Tharp said, “and I think it’s just really great to see students coming together to support this topic and to just bring some more awareness to it.”

After meeting at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse for registration, students formed a large group, with a banner at their head, to walk around the four parks on campus in order to make a stand against suicide. Around their necks, many students wore beaded necklaces with colors representing struggles of mental health and difficult situations in their lives, whether it be depression, anxiety or the pain of a loved one lost through suicide. Their main purpose: to show other students they are not alone in their struggle against whatever they are facing or have faced in their lives.

“It just starts a conversation between people,” Ryan said. “If you see people wearing the same kind of beads that you’re wearing, you can relate to them more.”

When students took a break from the walk, they could move indoors for a drink of water and slices of pizza, donated by Domino’s, Pizza Hut and Scotty’s Pizza for the event. Then, they could walk around the gymnasium to participate in a variety of activities set up at tables around the room. Student organization clubs, such as Art Club and Lamplighters Choir, set up tables with activities such as drawing, face painting, creating musical shakers and sampling a variety of candies.

Ryan hopes that the event will continue to grow after she graduates in May.

“It brings people together,” said Ryan. “It also helps people who have lost loved ones to find other people to lean on, as well as that the organization has resources for them that they may not know about if they didn’t come to an event like this. So it’s forming a support group within the community.”