It's a seemingly regular day on campus. A student veteran sits in a literature course discussing "Tuesdays with Morrie." The discussion on themes of death in the book triggers the student veteran to charge into the college president's office. The student veteran demands the professor be terminated and the book omitted from the curriculum. The coordinator of veterans services hurries in to mitigate the encounter. The student veteran reveals to the trusted coordinator of veterans services that they have had their own struggles with suicide. The entire sequence of events inspires the coordinator to create the "What's Your 22?" initiative to spread awareness of veteran suicides.

That coordinator of veterans services is Thomas Reagan from Black Hawk College. Reagan shares, "I was determined to do something to raise awareness for veteran suicide. After learning that 30,000 veterans have died by suicide since 09/11/2001, on average at the time 22 veterans die by suicide every day. I started my awareness campaign in the year 2022. Being fitness-conscious, I thought about doing a campaign around a 22-pushup idea. Then I thought I would broaden the concept and let people pick their own 22 which became my tagline 22In22For22! You do 22 things, that could be 22 pushups a day, 22 books in the year or even not drinking alcohol for 22 days during the year. The possibilities are endless. 22 things in the year 2022 to raise awareness for the 22 veterans who die by suicide every day."

As we know in higher education, planning and promoting initiatives can be challenging and require a lot of leg work. Reagan reflects, "I wanted this campaign to be bigger than Black Hawk College, so I reached out to my colleagues at Eastern Iowa Community Colleges, Saint Ambrose University, and Western Illinois University and they joined me in spreading the word about 22In22For22. I spoke at several service organizations like the Rotary and Optimist Clubs as well as the Amvets and the local American Legion. A local martial arts instructor who was personally impacted by veteran suicide put on a fitness exhibition that raised over $2,000 in less than an hour and was well covered by the local press."

Support for campus initiatives can either take off or fizzle out, but Reagan is proud to say, "The buy-in from the campus was fantastic. I worked closely with our arts department and their students to come up with a unique design for a campaign t-shirt that we sold for $22.22. Our counseling department took the lead on several of our campus events and the administration was totally onboard with us."

And when it came to promoting the events beyond the walls of the veterans center and campus-wide, Reagan shares "We had a few campus-wide events, the two biggest were in September 2022 & November 2022. In September, which is suicide awareness month, our director of student services hired one of my CrossFit coaches who happened to also be a nursing student to run an hour-long fitness program for students, staff, and faculty at the college in our courtyard. Before the fitness challenge, I had a suicide prevention case manager from the VA speak to the attendees. It was a well-attended event with a great mix of students, staff, and faculty. Our other event was to have a green out on November 10 in honor of Veterans Day. We challenged everyone at the college to wear green that day. It just so happened that our campaign shirts were green, and we sold a lot of them leading up to November 10."

Talking about suicide publicly in the military-affiliated space can sometimes stir up conceptions that 'all veterans are broken' and receive backlash. Reagan shares how he responded to naysayers, "We had very little backlash. There were some who questioned the exact number of 22 deaths a day. And there were a select few who thought that talking about suicide so much was too exhaustive for the students at BHC. I am sure the number of deaths fluctuates and it's not 22 every day, but my thought process is that 1 death by suicide is too many, and the exact number is irrelevant. And I am not of the opinion that suicide awareness can be overemphasized."

If you are considering starting your own campus initiatives, but have been on the fence, follow your heart. Reagan advises those who are looking to create their own campaigns, "I would tell them to go for it, find that need, and pour your heart into it. Working in higher education with student veterans, I found my initiative. There are veterans who struggle with their mental health, and they need help. Get buy-in and support with as many different departments on campus and look for community partners. I would suggest that collaboration be done with other higher education institutions to broaden the initiative. I also think it is important to celebrate your success. We took our student veterans bowling and to dinner when our campaign was complete."

Article Topics

Military Focused Events Military Friendly Institutions Research on Student Veterans Serving Military in HigherEd Workplace Inclusion

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