Duke's National Alliance on Mental Illness hosted a candlelight vigil for mental health awareness on the Bryan Center Plaza Sept. 10. Here is the event in photos and quotes from attendants.
Junior Grace Shen said the event was important to bring issues related to mental health to light.
“I think that this is a great event because I think everyone goes around Duke pretending or, at least with the façade, that everything is really great and Duke is a really awesome university," Shen said. "But it is really easy to forget that there are people, so many people, with stories like this… struggling so much. It is important we bring it to light.”
Yan Li, a staff psychologist in Counseling and Psychological Services and assistant director of campus community engagement, said that it is meaningful to impact students as their identity is still forming.
“It is an honor and a gift of trust for students to share their most vulnerable experiences as part of who they are," Li said.
Senior Gary Wang, president of NAMI, noted it is important to make sure people do not feel like they are alone.
“We can't just sweep suicide or mental health under the rug until tragedy happens," Wang said. "That’s a cycle we see with so many things, and there's so many things we can do to help promote a more inclusive and empathetic community culture. That is so powerful and can help to make people feel like they're not alone, and help prevent some of those crises and tragedies from happening."
Senior Tatyana Bidopia, former president of NAMI, said there were around 70 attendants at the Sept. 10 event.
"[That] was really nice and is probably more than double what we had last year," Bidopia said.
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