Rows of backpacks, many with pictures and messages attached, lined the floor of the Stamp Student Union Grand Ballroom Lounge all day Wednesday.
In the coming months, the backpacks will travel to college campuses across the country as part of Send Silence Packing tour, an event organized by the student group Active Minds as a means of spreading awareness about mental health issues.
Each backpack is intended to symbolize the life of one of the 1,100 college students who commit suicide each year, said Active Minds Chapter President Samantha Roman.
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UMd. is the first in a series of 14 schools that the backpacks will visit during the 2011 spring tour. For more information about Send Silence Packing, visit their website, and of course, check out our video above.
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