Big props to @jamesmadisonuniversity for setting the tone to kick off the #SameHere Student Alliance, with info they just submitted today @lauren__sander!!
Here’s the concept – @weareallalittlecrazy can go onto campuses w what starts as culture changing events/vehicles for one night (or even two days w breakout sessions) – the #SameHere Sit-Downs. And the admins & leaders in the Counseling Depts., Athletic Depts., & other areas of Campus Life can do great things at the University employee level.
However, it takes STUDENTS themselves, who are leaders in this space, to hold the hands of their peers & encourage & re-enforce the messages of these events/break-outs, & the efforts of staff/resources available to them at the Universities.
These #SameHere Student Leaders are the connectors who can welcome in ALL types of students from all different backgrounds – foreign students, athletes, musicians, student government, everyday students (essentially executing the Same Here concept on campuses: that this is a topic that involves everyone, not just those already w disorder).
We are working w the students on the best structures for their on-campus mental health groups, as well as their branding. For example, student @olivia.lubarsky started an #OwnYourRoar campaign on @towsonuniversity campus, which can be buoyed nationally by alliance w other schools. In this pic, James Madison is amidst launching their #DukesLetsTalk program.
Each campus can build & maintain their own branding, appealing to their campuses specifically, & then tie together in #SameHere Alliance just like the celebs, influencers, practitioners, etc. are doing. And, we are working w other existing students MH programs from other national orgs, so we can all come together on a topic that needs unity. Thanks @dorijchait for taking the lead.
It’s tragically ironic that on World Mental Health Day we are living through a set of global events making our world anything but mentally healthy