UNC Student Government will host its first Mental Health Awareness Week to support mental health education on campus beginning Monday.
Undergraduate Senator Reeves Moseley of the School of Social Science District proposed the idea to Student Body President Savannah Putnam. He said his sister gave him the idea. She graduated from Wake Forest University, where the Student Government Mental Health Week is done annually.
“I was just kind of confused, because UNC is a flagship university of the state of North Carolina, and it’s just really renowned across the country, so it was weird why we weren’t leading initiatives for how people should be supporting their mental health,” Moseley said.
Moseley drafted a resolution to create the Mental Health Awareness Week initiative, and it was approved by the Senate.
Since then, Moseley has been working with Emma Caponigro and Raleigh Cury, co-directors of the undergraduate Student Mental Health Task Force, to plan the event.
“So essentially, the goal is just to increase awareness on campus about mental health, all the resources on campus and host events that maybe draw more people in because of Mental Health Awareness Week,” Caponigro said.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the Mental Health Awareness Week will focus on the mental health of different groups of people, varying from race to class status to sexual orientation.
“So we came up with themes for every day of the week because we place a strong emphasis on intersectionality and that someone’s mental health is affected by their race, sexual orientation, personal experiences, religion, socioeconomic status.” Caponigro said. “And so we came up with themes to address vulnerable populations in mental health, and so we have a day about LGBTQIA+ mental health, we have a day for first-year mental health and transfer student mental health.”
The Mental Health Organization Fair will be held next Monday, and it will feature campus organizations focused on mental health, such as the Buddy Project. The Buddy Project focuses on suicide prevention and mental health awareness.
