Colleges all over the United States put their best foot forward bringing awareness to the front lines this year during National Suicide Prevention Week, but the same can’t be said for NIU. Prevention week took place Sept. 10 to 16. The entire month of September is dedicated to suicide prevention, but it seems as though it has almost slipped NIU’s mind.

Colleges on the East Coast, like Boston University and Syracuse University, and in the Midwest have been participating in the campaign, “Send Silence Packing.” The traveling campaign and exhibit designed to raise awareness of suicide, connects students to the different mental health resources on campus and makes conversation for suicide prevention.

The campaign on campuses puts out backpacks at a high traffic location, giving a visual representation and impact on the number of suicide victims on college campuses yearly. Twelve college campuses and 15 cities take part in the campaign, according to ActiveMinds.org. NIU should also participate and become a part of the tour list.

The suicide rate has risen from 10.43 per 100,000 students to 13.02 between 2000 and 2013 and is still climbing throughout 2017, according to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. During suicide prevention week, NIU had little to nothing planned or highlighted related to suicide. An entire week passed before NIU thought it would be important to scheduled a event hosted by Helping Huskies Thrive, in which Jordan Burnham from Active Minds will be talking about his story of survival, recovery and acceptance, according to an announcement email from Kelly Wesener Michael, associate vice president for student affairs & dean of students. The event will be 7 p.m. Thursday in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium.

“I knew nothing about events on campus during suicide prevention week. It upsets me because I feel sometimes we only care about what’s comfortable,” said Nick Masterson, senior communications major. “Comfortable is something that we shouldn’t get used to. I lost my best friend to suicide this summer, and my whole world was turned around. I know my best friend probably wouldn’t talk to anyone, but I know sometimes the only thing people need is an open hand.”

By being added to the campaign, “Send Silence Packing,” NIU could get the students involved, and it could make such an impact having a visual of how many students fall victim to suicide during the calendar year. Joining the campaign would be a step in the right direction that would benefit thousands of students that may struggle with depression on our own campus.

“I believe that we should participate in “Send Silence Packing” as I have personally witnessed a member of ours taking his life and saw the impact one life left on our campus,” said Anthony Baca, president of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. “This movement would be highly effective on any campus.”

NIU lost a student in the summer to suicide, and Greek life was impacted heavily because he was a member of an organization. In 2016, NIU conducted an entire campaign entitled, Building Suicide Awareness and Fostering Enhanced Resilience, where the community highlighted suicide and the effect depression has on NIU students, according to the College of Education News site.

In 2016, a $300,000 grant was awarded to College of Education’s Department of Counseling, Adult and Higher Education and NIU Counseling & Consultation Services by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and was used to decrease the stigma around mental health and promote resilience in the NIU community, according to the campaign’s website. NIU took this week very seriously and did everything in its power to communicate that with the students. But it seems as though this year NIU has given up.

“Like every other campus across the country, we’re seeing more and more students presenting with mental health issues than we have in the past, and we’re doing something about that,” said Brooke Ruxton, executive director of Counseling & Consultation Services and a licensed clinical psychologist.

Sadly I don’t think that is the case this year. Suicide doesn’t take a semester off. NIU should have put in as much effort this year as they did last year. If a student were to search for related topics on NIU’s website, results would be short due to NIU’s lack of events and involvement.

Mental health is a force that cannot be seen yet students all over campus are affected daily by a number of issues including depression and suicide. It’s time that the spotlight shines on this issue until the disguised face of depression is recognizable.