Yesterday, students’ backpacks dotted the Grove – totaling 1,100 in number, representing the more than 1,000 college students who die by suicide every year. The Send Silence Packing exhibition cast a calm over the space as students walked from backpack to backpack, reading the stories attached to some.
“She should be eighteen,” one read.
“Bright, funny, a free spirit, athlete, and actress with a beautiful soul,” was written on another, before including the their favorite quote: “speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.”
“My husband,” another simply stated, before listing the ages of the widow’s four children.
In conjunction with the national Active Minds association, the Ole Miss Active Minds organization held the event to raise suicide awareness and mark the beginning of Mental Health Week on campus. As students walked between the backpacks, members of the organization passed out fliers and quietly inquired if they were OK or needed to talk.
“It might seem disruptive and difficult,” said Josh Martin, a freshman psychology and integrated marketing communications major and member of Active Minds. “But people from all walks of life are vulnerable, and this is a conversation that needs to be had.”
Kathryn Forbes, president of Active Minds and a senior psychology and public policy major, agreed.
“I think I could have really benefited from this sort of event when I was really struggling two years ago,” she said. “This conversation might need some provoking, but so far, we’ve found that if we’re willing to start the conversation, other students are willing to continue it and open up about their struggles.”
Among the students and student organizers looking at the backpacks in silence or opening up about their own experiences with mental illness or suicide, one woman in an orange cardigan stood out. Students lined up to talk or give her a hug. Lauren McGraw, mother of former student Rivers McGraw, had brought her son’s backpack to the event and stayed to share his story.
“He shot himself after receiving his second DUI in 2016,” McGraw said. “He got scared and didn’t think there was a way out, which is why it is so important to raise awareness at events like this. We need to talk. We need kids to be more open so they can know there is a way out.”
The fliers Active Minds handed out read: “There is HOPE. There is HELP. You are NOT ALONE.”
“It used to be people didn’t talk about any of this,” McGraw said. “Especially boys, who are taught to be tough and rough since they’re born. But I believe that things are going to change. That’s why I worked to have Rivers’ Law passed.”
Rivers’ Law is a law that alerts parents if their child under 21 is arrested for drug and alcohol charges. It passed the House unanimously in February 2017 and signed into law by Gov. Phil Bryant that April.
But the struggle for mental wellness does not stop when laws are passed. McGraw continues to deal with her own grief, and Ole Miss students continue to deal with their own mental health issues – multiple students have been lost to suicide this year alone, according to Forbes. These recent suicides are part of the reason why Active Minds decided to have not only the Send Silence Packing exhibition but also a whole week of events to raise awareness.
Event organizers said they hope that maybe with concentrated effort and more conversation, there won’t be so many backpacks next year.
