Student Advocacy Can Lead To Change
By Seth Nilsen
This picture was taken following a meeting during the fall of 2019. When the campus is open, we hold bi-weekly meetings that are open to the public and occasionally have guest speakers.
Mental Health Mankato, a student organization that I founded, has worked jointly with the Minnesota State University, Mankato Psychology Department to create awareness for mental health-related issues. Mental Health Mankato has brought the Green Bandana Project to the MNSU campus, which raises awareness by passing out green bandanas for students to tie around their backpack and also passes out resource cards to direct people to available mental health resources. The green bandana on a student’s backpack signifies an openness to have a conversation about mental health and the ability to direct a person in need toward resources. Mental Health Mankato has also put on a fundraising dodge-ball tournament and a Mental Health First Aid course that certified 17 students to be Mental Health First Aid certified. This means that these students have gained a comprehensive 8-hour education in a wide variety of mental health topics ranging from recognizing signs and symptoms of various mental health disorders, identifying terminology that increases the stigma surrounding mental health, along with gaining practice with talking about tough topics, such as suicide. Through getting the Minnesota State campus involved in mental health advocacy, Mental Health Mankato won the 2019 Student Organization of the Year.
The guidance that the Psychology Department at Minnesota State, Mankato, has given its students has benefited our campus and has given us a platform that has maximized our potential and given us the freedom to express our creativity as advocates. They have guided us, students, by being our student organization advisor. To start a student organization here at Minnesota State, Mankato, a student simply needs 1 advisor and 4 members. What has made Mental Health Mankato a unique student organization is how it has been completely student-led.
Through having many conversations with fellow higher education students and the student government, Mental Health Mankato has decided to expand our platform and form a 501(c)3 nonprofit called CultureChange. We strive to increase students’ rights at MNSU by working with the university. We are motivated to do this because the United States government has made very little progress on their higher education bill. The purpose of the Higher Education Mental Health Act of 2019 is to, hypothetically, create an advisory committee led by the Secretary of Education. This act still needs to be passed by the House, Senate, and President in order to be in effect. We are also motivated by the fact that there has been a 14% increase in college students who have a lifetime mental health diagnosis over the time frame 2007-2017 (22%-36% of students; DeAngelis, 2019, p.80). CultureChange will decrease the stigma that surrounds mental health by providing an outline for local students to take and create their own change. The outline will consist of a free comprehensive mental health course for students to take, free comprehensive mental health training for faculty, and other educational content. Once we lay this groundwork around the state, we hope to advocate for the increase of funding for mental health resources.
For more information on Mental Health Mankato and CultureChange, contact Seth Nilsen at seth.nilsen@mnsu.edu.
References
DeAngelis, T. (2019). College students’ mental health is a higher priority. APA Monitor, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/12/numbers-college
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3489/text?r=3&s=1