DULUTH, Minn. — A nationwide mental health awareness campaign will return to UMD this school year.
The Green Bandana Project was started by student athletes at UW-Madison in 2017, and has since spread through campuses across the U.S.
Fox 21 talked to the UMD project presidents, who shared the deeper meaning behind the bandana.
The project came to UMD in the fall of 2019. This year, UMD softball players Julia Gronholz and Elle Potts are leading it.
“What we do student athlete wise is we host mental health awareness games just to bring awareness to it. We sell shirts there, our bandanas, we sell wristbands, and athletes really like that cause it’s just a way to say hey this is a thing a lot of people struggle with. This, it’s normal too, and it’s okay to not be okay,” said Gronholz.
Although it’s led by student athletes, Gronholz says they are a symbol of support to anyone in the community.
“Our coaches are great, our community is great, parents are great, they always love the events. It’s just kind of cool to see the people who come up to you at our tables at mental health awareness games and genuinely wonder what this is and they care and tell us how awesome it is that we’re doing this. So I think it’s just something that’s worldwide right now that’s finally starting to get some light on,” Gronholz said.
Co-President Elle Potts says the project is an educational tool for those who may not personally struggle with mental illness.
Potts said, “I think our generation is much more willing to talk about it in a whole. Even my family, I love my family, but they’re like what are you doing? What is this? And I’m like oh it’s a mental health awareness group on campus, we’re trying to raise awareness. They’re not aware that it’s necessarily such a big deal as it is I don’t think.”
Last school year, UMD was honored the NCAA Division II, Award of Excellence, all because of their work with the Green Bandana Project. It was also the first time in Bulldog athletic history to have received the award.
“The previous people that were in charge, they did a great job getting this thing up and running. We’re just trying to continue to work on what they created and keep making it bigger, trying to reach as many people as we can,” Potts explained.
Potts and Gronholz plan to keep the ball rolling by posting awareness on social media, holding tribute games, and of course, wearing a green bandana on their backpacks.
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