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Editor’s note: This article contains mentions of suicide and sexual assault.

Syracuse University sophomore Elizabeth Kot was diagnosed with anorexia in June. All summer, she attended out-patient treatment and worked with a team of therapists and nutritionists weekly to construct meal plans and develop strategies for her disorder. She described her recovery process as “time consuming, reflective and balancing.”

Kot said anorexia took a toll on her mental health as well, so when she returned to campus this fall, she wanted to help peers with their own mental health experiences. She introduced an organization to campus called The Bandana Project, which revolves around suicide prevention and mental health awareness.

The Bandana Project is a national organization that started in 2016 on the University of Madison-Wisconsin campus and has now reached over 40 other colleges. Members of the organization tie a green bandana to their backpacks and carry around mental health resource cards to pass around to anyone they might see having a difficult time. The bandanas are an “unspoken” and “simple” way to show support to those who might be having trouble, Kot said.

When Kot pitched the idea of bringing the project to SU to the Student Association, sophomore Yasmin Nayrouz, SA’s vice president of university affairs, volunteered to help. The project covers many mental health concerns in addition to suicide, such as sexual assault and bias incidents, Nayrouz said. She said she wants to use the project to end stigmas surrounding these traumatic instances.

“It takes a lot for someone to become vulnerable,” Nayrouz said. “There are a lot of stigmas around sexual assault and trauma related to that. There’s a lot of negative comments related to survivors, and that can definitely affect the mental health of those survivors.”

Nayrouz hopes that students experiencing mental health challenges will feel more support when they notice green bandanas as they walk through campus and that the bandanas will spark conversations about mental health and resources around campus.

So far, the Syracuse chapter has 20 people signed up to be members and has hosted two tabling sessions in the Schine Student Center, where the group gave out bandanas and resource cards. The cards have national resource phone numbers and campus resource information for Barnes Center at The Arch counseling, the Dean of Students Office and the Department of Public Safety. The project is not a registered student organization at this point, but Kot hopes it will be by the time she graduates.

This year is an ideal time to implement new mental health resources on campus because of the long-lasting effects of the pandemic following students’ feelings of isolation and loneliness during the peak of COVID-19, Kot said.

“When you’re by yourself, you get in your head a lot,” sophomore Isabelle Duke said. “You get lonely, you get depressed, you get anxiety over things. Having students start these clubs and reach out says a lot about the people who go to Syracuse.”

Even with vaccines and fewer restrictions this year, Kot said COVID-19 left an impact on students’ mental health. Many students still are feeling fatigued and overwhelmed from the stress of the past two years. But even without the challenges of the pandemic, Kot said transitioning to a new college environment can be taxing on mental health.

The Bandana Project will continue to have tabling events in Schine one to two times a month to help students experiencing mental health challenges by providing information on topics such as suicide awareness and the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health. In addition to helping others, Kot said the project has been a good outlet for her so far this year.

“I’m very proud of myself for being able to use my experience and turn it into a goal to help other people,” Kot said. “It has helped me, too.”

DISCLAIMER: Yasmin Nayrouz was a staff writer for The Daily Orange. Since taking a position in the Student Association, she has not contributed to The D.O., and thus does not influence the editorial content of The D.O.

Published on November 11, 2021 at 12:10 am