Campaign to ‘Send Silence Packing’ visits CSUSB Sept. 24

San Bernardino, Calif. -- Eleven hundred backpacks will be spread across the main lawn in front of the Pfau Library at Cal State San Bernardino on Tuesday, Sept. 24.

They aren't designer or trendy bags. In fact, they are the type of backpacks a college student would use to carry books, papers and laptops, but yet each one has the potential of saving lives.

Inside each one of the 1,100 backpacks is the personal story in memory of a life lost and a life impacted by suicide.

CSUSB officials hope that those stories will bring awareness to the second leading cause of death of college students. Each year more than 1,100 college students in the United States die by suicide.

The display is part of a national program called “Send Silence Packing” and is presented by the CSUSB Student Health Center and Psychological and Counseling Center, said Carlos Carrio, the university’s health educator and wellness coordinator.

“The message here isn’t just about lowering statistics, but about saving lives,” Carrio said. “The goal of Send Silence Packing is to raise awareness about the incidence and impact of college student suicide and help people understand how they can be part of the solution.”

Send Silence Packing will be on display on the main lawn outside of the Cal State San Bernardino Santos Manuel Student Union on Tuesday, Sept. 24, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information on Send Silence Packing at Cal State San Bernardino, contact Albert Angelo at (909) 537-3281 or by email at aangelo@csusb.edu.

Also visit the Send Silence Packing website for more information on the national program.

For more information on Cal State Sand Bernardino, contact the university’s Office of Public Affairs at (909) 537-5007 and visit news.csusb.edu.