After a semester-long campaign for mental health awareness, students in the Theory and Practice of Advocacy class at Montclair State University attracted a crowd of over 200 people to their Stomp the Stigma event on Wednesday, Dec. 6.

 

Students decided early in the semester that they wanted to advocate for mental health awareness on campus. The first step was to partner with Montclair State’s chapter of Active Minds, an organization on campus that promotes mental health awareness on college campuses. In order to make sure they were sending the right messages, they also consulted with Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).

 

The 19 students in the class split up into four teams to divide the work: event, content, web and video. Everyone in the class helped out with the planning of the Stomp the Stigma event, which turned out to be a huge success.

 

Minutes before the doors of the School of Communication and Media’s (SCM) presentation hall opened on the big day, there was a huge crowd waiting outside. While waiting, people colored their own semicolon, which is the symbol for the Stomp the Stigma campaign, with crayons. Each person’s artwork was hung up on a clothesline in the lobby.

 

Most of the students who attended the event did so as part of the colloquium requirement for SCM students. Not only was this the first student-run colloquium, but it was an interactive one that encouraged students to use their phones to take pictures and talk about it on social media. There was even a contest on Instagram giving away T-shirts to the four most creative posts with the hashtag #StompTheStigmaMSU.

 

The event consisted of a discussion about the connection between mental health and communication. The panel, which was moderated by student Stephanie Cardoso, consisted of:

 

• Philip Bakelaar, graphic facilitator and adjunct at Montclair State

• Christopher McKinley, associate professor at Montclair State

• Cindy Nelson, art therapist and adjunct at Montclair State

• Sudha Wadhwani, CAPS psychologist

 

While Cardoso, McKinley, Nelson and Wadhwani spoke, Bakelaar recorded the discussion by drawing graphics on long sheets of white paper to explain the concepts. They discussed the struggles college students face when dealing with mental health. Some of the other topics the conversation covered included the effects of social media and how to deal with anxiety and stress.

Even though the semester is over, this campaign will not only stick with Montclair State’s chapter of Active Minds but the school’s community for a long time. And as for the Theory and Practice of Advocacy class: The students have now experienced running a meaningful campaign about mental health from the ground up. Together, they created a multimedia advocacy campaign that they care about beyond just getting a grade for a class.

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By Amina Abdelrahman