Every time I walk through the Pit at UNC, I remember the sticky notes and flowers left on those green chairs three years ago. I remember the candles that sat at their feet, the messages written in chalk on the bricks.
“Your fire will never truly die,” the largest chalk message said. I remember the four students who died by suicide that semester.
The mental health crisis we face has not subsided. Last year, N.C. State lost seven students to suicide. From 2016 to 2020, there were 878 deaths by suicide of people ages 15 to 24 in North Carolina. A national survey conducted by the American College Health Association found that 52 percent of undergraduate students regularly experienced moderate psychological distress. While this problem isn’t new, it feels more important than ever.
That’s why The Daily Tar Heel partnered with eight other college newspapers to report on mental health challenges shared by those in each of their communities.
The Mental Health Collaborative is the result of months of rigorous reporting, research, conversations, writing, editing and designing. This initiative began in 2023, when The Daily Tar Heel was awarded a grant from the Solutions Journalism Network as part of its Student Media Challenge initiative. That grant helped fund the collaborative work of this project. Many of the stories you will read in this collaborative do more than just present a problem — they also explore solutions to this crisis.
The Daily Tar Heel is honored to have had the privilege of working with The A&T Register, The Duke Chronicle, The East Carolinian, The Niner Times, The Old Gold & Black, The Pendulum, The Seahawk and Technician on this project.
With more than 30 reported stories and seven opinion pieces, we touch on many issues related to mental health, from how Wake Forest University trains its faculty to be on the frontline of mental health care to how international students create community at East Carolina University.
While there’s still more that must be done, this is a step toward that future. As we navigate the complexities of mental health, we must not lose sight of the individual people behind the statistics — the students, faculty, families and communities affected. Their stories, their struggles and their resilience should serve as a guiding light. We hope that this mental health collaborative project serves as a call to action to create a future where no one suffers in silence.
