{"id":11087,"date":"2026-10-01T15:20:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T15:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/?p=11087"},"modified":"2026-10-01T15:20:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T15:20:23","slug":"aka-raises-awareness-for-suicide-via-campus-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/2026\/10\/01\/aka-raises-awareness-for-suicide-via-campus-run\/","title":{"rendered":"AKA raises awareness for suicide via campus run"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION<\/a>) \u2014 A crowd of students\u00a0ran and walked with Alpha Kappa Alpha<\/a> (AKA) sorority on Sunday to raise awareness for suicide.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AKA worked to plan the event for over a month, and the outpouring of support was overwhelming.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Honestly I was really overwhelmed,\u201d said AKA Community Service Chair Destyni Winbush, a junior nursing major from Mobile, Alabama. \u201cI was like wow, this is so much of a bigger event than I thought it would be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’m so grateful that so many people were able to come out and show support and be able to uplift the community and be here and fellowship with everyone and learn something new. They\u2019ll also be able to spread that awareness that they learned today. I feel like college is the biggest point you feel like you are alone. It’svery important to know that you have someone by your side, there can be someone here for you.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants shared how the run\/walk affected them.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEWS FOR YOU: Campus organizations team up for mental health seminar<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt felt really good to be able to walk with so many people on campus,\u201d said Brookelyn Harris, a freshman exercise science major from Sylacauga, Alabama. \u201cIt\u2019s so awesome that we all came together to raise awareness for mental health.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guest speakers Dr. Shanukah Anderson, a lecturer with personal loss due to suicide, and university Title IX Coordinator Grace Wagstaff spoke to participants before the walk. Both told students it’s okay to reach out for help, and many in attendance carried that same sentiment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Turn to someone, it’s very important to talk to someone,\u201d Winbush said. \u201cFind a safe space, that safe person.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAllow yourself to open up. It’s never good to keep stuff shut in.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only can college be a stressor on its own, outside factors can also influence mental health in students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“School is already a lot,\u201d said Joseph Marshall, a senior physical education major from Bainbridge, Georgia, who ran at the event.  \u201cNow with the economy going so high, trying to keep up with bills and everything, getting that together could be a lot on your brain.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants left students with heartfelt pieces of advice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Whatever you do in life, keep going,\u201d Marshall said. \u201cDon’t give up.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others reiterated that asking for help is important. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not alone,\u201d Harris said. \u201cIf you\u2019re feeling down, definitely reach out for help.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Troy has many resources for students struggling with their mental health, including on-campus counselling services and\u00a0TimelyCare<\/a>, which offers virtual counselling services free for full-time students.\u00a0TimelyCare\u00a0also has a\u00a0TalkNow\u00a0option, where students can reach a healthcare professional without a scheduled appointment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) \u2014 A crowd of students\u00a0ran and walked with Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) sorority on Sunday to raise awareness for suicide.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

AKA worked to plan the event for over a month, and the outpouring of support was overwhelming.  <\/p>\n

“Honestly I was really overwhelmed,\u201d said AKA Community Service Chair Destyni Winbush, a junior nursing major from Mobile, Alabama….<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":11094,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1127],"tags":[],"topics":[],"class_list":["post-11087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11087"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11093,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11087\/revisions\/11093"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11087"},{"taxonomy":"topics","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.troy.edu\/trojanvision\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topics?post=11087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}