Over 200 students and community members wearing American Foundation for Suicide Prevention shirts and colorful beaded necklaces lined Marquette’s streets on Saturday in a walk to bring awareness to suicide prevention efforts.
AFSP is a voluntary health organization that gives those affected by suicide a nationwide community empowered by research, education and advocacy to take action against this leading cause of death. The organization’s motto for the year is “Talk Away the Dark,” which led to the creation of Marquette’s “Out of the Darkness“ campus walk.
Elizabeth Gnau, a sophomore in the College of Nursing, reached out to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Marquette’s Center for Student Wellness and Health Promotion last year about starting a campus walk to help prevent suicide.
Gnau, a Madison native, said she became familiar with AFSP through UW-Madison, who hosts one of the biggest suicide prevention walks in the nation.
“I attended their walk when I was in high school, and then my freshman year of college I wanted to do something to make an impact and commemorate my own progress,” Gnau said.
Bernadette Heitschmidt, a Marquette alum and the Director of the Center for Student Wellness and Health Promotion, said she was thinking about starting a suicide prevention walk at Marquette last year when Gnau approached her with the same idea.
“If we help one person on Marquette’s campus, I think we’ve done our jobs,” Heitschmidt said.
After reaching out to campus organizations and offices that support student mental health, Gnau and Heitschmidt were given the green light and set a goal of $5,000 for last year’s “Out of the Darkness” campus walk.
This year, after approval to host anther walk, the goal became $10,000. Gnau said Saturday’s walk has raised over $8,229.27 for suicide prevention so far and donations will be accepted through June 30.
“We’re hoping to close the gap with fundraising and awareness today. I’m really happy, honestly, because any amount that we can donate to suicide prevention, research and education is great,” Gnau said.
Organizations attending and assisting with the walk included Active Minds, BlackMindz, the Counseling Center, Counseling Education, the Graduate School, the Office of Inclusion and Belonging and On Your Marq, among others.
Aside from raising funds for suicide prevention, Gnau said another main goal of the “Out of the Darkness” is to de-stigmatize the topic of suicide across the nation. She said she thinks suicide prevention is not talked about enough on college campuses, and she wants struggling students at Marquette to feel heard.
“College can be tough, and we want people to seek resources and feel okay about it,” Jenan Halawa, a first-year in the College of Arts & Sciences, said.
Halawa said she was very grateful to help Gnau and Heitschmidt put on this year’s “Out of the Darkness” walk. She said going into college she wanted a job in advocacy and leadership, so she became a peer wellness educator and developed a friendship with Gnau.
Heitschmidt said that she thinks hosting annual suicide prevention walks at Marquette will encourage more students like Halawa to enter the mental health counseling workforce where they can help others who are battling suicide.
“It goes hand-in-hand with our Jesuit value of being men and women for others, and that’s what we’re here to do today to carry out our mission.” Heitschmidt said.
Gnau, Halawa and Heitschmidt also hoped hosting a campus walk this year would help achieve the goals set by AFSP for their “Talk Away the Dark,” like teaching students to learn the warning signs of suicide, know the risk factors and have honest, open conversations. Halawa said she was excited to spread the message of healthy discussion all over Marquette’s campus at the walk on Saturday.
“Let’s talk about it and not keep it in the dark anymore. It’s okay to ask for help, it’s okay to need help and it’s okay to want help,” Halawa said. “I think the only way to prevent suicide is to be open about it and talk about it.”
If you or anyone you know at Marquette is struggling, visit the Center for Student Health and Wellness Promotion or the Counseling Center for support. The suicide and crisis lifeline number is 988, or text TALK to 741-741.
This story was written by Mia Thurow. She can be reached at [email protected].
