To highlight the barriers that minorities face when accessing mental health care, Marshall University’s Counseling Center will offer free Minority Mental Health Awareness events to the Marshall community March 11 through March 13.

“We want to help bring awareness to the racial, ethnic and cultural issues that further impact the mental health of minorities,” said Candace Layne, director of Marshall’s Counseling Center.

Minorities underutilize mental health services, and Marshall wants to change this, Layne said.

The kick-off event for the Minority Mental Health Awareness events will be March 11 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the lobby of the Memorial Student Center. This event will offer free food, prizes and resources.

The second event will be a movie night documenting the multicultural experience with mental health and taking place March 12 at 5:30 p.m in the Harless Media Room. Attendees will receive free popcorn and can take part in an open discussion following the documentary.

The week will wrap up with a “Lunch and Learn” event on March 13from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m in the Memorial Student Center’s Shawkey Dining Room.

Those in attendance will be provided with a free lunch while learning about the mental health experiences of minority students and community members.

As part of the event, ten panelists will speak on multicultural experiences with mental health as well as offer more information on the resources available.

The panelists range from students to community members to health professionals, each offering a different perspective on minority mental health as well as information on the resources available and how to overcome.

Mental health is a hot topic on campus this semester as students, staff and faculty have begun to bring attention to the idea that many people suffer.

“Mental health can go unnoticed in a lot of people,” said Brandon Cavendish, a junior digital forensics and information assurance major.

Cavendish said that bringing awareness to mental health resources that the university has to offer is a step towards ending the stigma.

“It’s good for the university to shine a light on something like this and help train people how to deal with it,” Cavendish said. “Something as small as that could really help a person.”

Students, faculty and staff can RSVP to the Minority Mental Health Awareness events ahead of time by emailing [email protected].

Makaylah Wheeler can be contacted at [email protected].