As part of Stigma Free Week on campus, the Green Ribbon Project worked toward giving students resources and acknowledgment about mental health to show they are not alone.
The Green Ribbon Project tabled on Davis Field Thursday and gave out green ribbons and buttons to show support and give awareness to mental health. Members had flyers that offered mental health resources to students, such as group counseling and walk-in appointments.
Ginny Reams, a second-year political science student, organized the event.
"The green is the ribbon that they use for mental health awareness," Reams said. "We are trying to get people to sign our stigma-free pledge and put them on their backpacks so they can just be reminded of it pretty much every day and see other people around campus who they know are stigma free, and they can have someone to talk to if they need to."
This event worked to establish the importance of mental health awareness at the university.
"I think it is so important on our campus, because college is such a hard and transitional time for pretty much everyone," Reams said. "I think that it is really important to know that you have people that will be there for you."
One of the goals of the Green Ribbon Project was to spread positivity and to remind people that they are enough and they matter.
"Our whole entire idea for Stigma Free week is just really removing that stigmatization behind mental health," said Jake Bray, a first-year criminology and psychology student. "In past years, and in the past in the world, it's kind of been something that people consider something you shouldn't talk about."
Jenya Christensen, a first-year finance student, wants others to know there are multiple resources to take advantage of when it comes to mental health.
"We want people to know that there are resources on campus, and through Student Government," Christensen said. "If you are having issues, there are people who would love to help you. Don't go through it alone if you don't want to."
Some of these resources include walk-in appointments, triage appointments and general counseling, which is all provided by the counseling and psychiatry department of the Health Center.
"It's more than just counseling. There's groups and specific counseling for different things, like different issues and struggles you are going through," Reams said. "We're encouraging people to get gatekeeper trained ... and it's really an important tool to be able to kind of look out for those things."