The UNC Interfraternity Council and UNC-system Association of Student Governments collaborated to place 1,400 lime green flags in Polk Place. Each flag represents 10 people who will suffer from mental illness in their academic career at UNC. Lime green is the recognized color for mental health awareness.
Deja Gilmore, the Association of Student Governments vice president of campus outreach, said a 2016 Healthy Minds Network study said roughly 46 percent of four-year college students under the age of 25 reported a mental health condition.
Luke Cullifer, IFC vice president of public relations and the campus liaison for the Association of Student Governments, said he wanted to create a visual display of the issue’s prevalence.
“This was to bring awareness to mental health, not being something that like 2 percent of us struggle with — it’s something almost half of us struggle with,” Cullifer said.
The flag display was part of the association’s mental health awareness week.
Two volunteers from each of the 25 IFC fraternities put out the flags Thursday night. Originally supposed to last for 24 hours, the display was extended to last until Monday night due to positive responses. Cullifer said the IFC wants to make this an annual event.
Cullifer said he got the idea for the flag display from the American flags put out around the Bell Tower in the fall to commemorate those who died on 9/11. He said he hopes the flags will make people think of what others are dealing with instead of their own problems.
“I’m hoping what these flags will do is help people look at the campus community and take that watchful look around and say ‘how can I help a person today?’” he said.
