Crafting a Plan to Address Student Athlete Mental Health on a National Scale

I began looking at the issue area of student athlete mental health through a political lens in the fall of my junior year of college. By this point, I had a personal diagnosis with depression, and I had also observed countless team mates struggle to ask for help with mental health throughout my USA Swimming experience.

I decided to delve into this topic for a project in my Strategic Political Communication class. Throughout the semester, as we studied material on campaigning tactics, we were given the task of choosing an issue area to track digitally over a 3 month period of time. After tracking the various actors implementing digital campaigns in live time, our assignment was to evaluate the past and present campaigns surrounding our issue area, and then develop a new campaign to address the weaknesses we observed.

So, for three months I followed different organizations across North America focused on addressing mental health concerns across athletes. (Canada leads in research and implementing policy for athletes in comparison to the U.S., so I used many of their tactics as a blueprint). Most digital activity related to this issue area is localized within college communities-people will make social media pages to share community events, infographics, and occasionally a suicide hotline number. We have not yet seen consistent large-scale organization at a national level to address this issue in the real world or digital world. Although schools have varying resources and tools in place for athletes to combat mental health concerns, many are afraid to come forward due to the stigma.

As I was conducting this research, I did not yet realize that I had been groomed by one of my college coaches. However, I certainly felt the effects of it during this time period and sought professional medical help to deal with the shame I felt. I blamed myself for provoking sexual attention by my assistant coach. If he was snap chatting me drunk, asking to come to my dorm despite having a wife and child on the way, it must be my fault. I thought he was such a good guy and an incredible coach helping me achieve my goals in the pool, I must be crazy and misinterpreting his actions. These "flirty" snapchats made me feel shame. If I came forward, I could ruin his career, ruin his family's life, ruin his future. This was a lot of shame for a 19-year old girl to process. I was just trying to swim in college to help me fund my education-swimming always came second to education and career goals.

I saw two options: to keep my head down and deal with my coach's inappropriate behavior, or to come forward and put my team through a second Title 9 investigation. (We went through one during my sophomore year, and my assistant coach was informed that certain behaviors like talking about the women's sexual encounters with the men on the team were inappropriate. This was an extremely stressful process for the team because we all had to meet with lawyers, and personally, my school work suffered because of the time and stress the investigation took. Entering a new investigation not even 3 months after the last one finished seemed insane and impossible. I wanted to swim and study in peace, so I kept quiet).

Instead of asking for help, I studied the issue from an academic context. Over time, this helped me piece together my own reality, and sort through the victim blaming in order to realize I was not at fault for my situation. I did not ask for this by signing a scholarship to swim in college, and it should have been the coach and university's responsibility to establish proper boundaries and policies to prevent this from happening to me.

After I realized that I actually was a victim of a sexual predator, and that I should not feel guilty about letting my team down by coming forward, I decided it would be healthiest for me to leave the team my senior year. Because I'd already studied student athlete mental health heavily in my courses, I proposed working on mental health initiatives within the athletic department instead of swimming to keep my scholarship but still contribute to the team in the best way I knew how. This was a much healthier way to spend senior year, because as my therapist says, you cannot heal in the environment that hurt you. Going to practice everyday was triggering to me, and the new coach was not empathetic to my mental health despite me doing my best effort to communicate transparently about the issues I was having.

My athletic work since senior year has been based on the campaign plan I developed my junior year in Strategic Political Communication with Professor Dave Karpf. I never expected to put that plan to action, but I took the first step when GWU tried to hire Heather Swain, as the new vice president for communications and marketing. Students were immediately outraged because of her association with covering up the USA gymnastic scandal at Michigan. I was triggered, because the administration was the only group of people that had my back when my coaches and team mates did not believe me. So, I posted my video on my college swimming experience. Due to the outcry from the student body, Heather Swain withdrew her application from GWU. This was a win for the GWU community.

When I posted my video on a public platform to help achieve this goal, I had a to accept a number of realities beforehand:

1. I might face slut shaming and victim blaming.

2. I might lose many friends within my swimming community.

3. I might have to testify in front of my coach in a court of law.

Some of these things have happened, but the good that has come out of opening up about my swimming experience far outweighs the bad.

Initially, I did not receive one piece of criticism or shaming. My community believed me for the first time, and the empowerment and kind words I received in response helped me solidify that I no longer felt like a victim, but rather a survivor.

Because of the grace and integrity I approached this issue area with, I now get to work on addressing Student Athlete Mental Health from a national legislative perspective. Impacting my local community is not enough to reform college athletics- it must come from a national level due to how widespread the issue has become since it was never addressed proactively and is continually ignored because it is an expensive problem to fix.

This issue area is personal to me now that I know not only was I was a victim of sexual predator in college athletics at GWU, but some of my friends at GWU were as well. Since posting the video, I've also connected with countless other victims at schools across the country. We all have the exact same problem- after becoming victims because we wanted to swim in college, there were not institutional measures in place to help us heal. We were told to move on and keep our heads down... At the expense of our own mental health and stability.

I have had a strategic plan for over 2 years now to improve the culture of athletics by prioritizing mental health, and I am finally beginning to connect with the right people who have the will to implement it. I am only one athlete, and it takes a team effort to reform an unjust national athletic culture. Talking about these issues is the first step to decreasing the stigma and figuring our how we need to reform policy to have a tangible effect on the treatment of athletes.

The baseline blueprint I started with:

*I will be adapting and building off this plan for the foreseeable future in order to put these actions to work in reality:

#ToughnessRedefined: Campaigning for Collegiate Student Athlete Mental Health

Between 10 and 20 percent of collegiate student athletes suffer from depression. 8 percent suffer from Bulimia. 1.5 percent suffer from anorexia.[1] The frequency of mental health disorders found among student athletes is higher than students who do not participate sports, most likely due to the unique stressors student athletes face on top of their normal college life including performing in the public eye, intense practice schedules, etc.[2] Although a significant portion of the collegiate athletic community would benefit from seeking help for their mental health, a majority do not because of the harsh stigma that exists among college athletics in regard to mental health. Recent studies have shown that 10-15% of students participating in NCAA athletics experience psychological issues extreme enough to warrant counseling, yet only 10 percent of those student athletes seek help.[3] Limiting factors of the stigma include fearing judgement from their peers and coaches, appearing weak, and losing training time. Despite the rise in mental health problems across athletes, extremely limited resources are available to student athletes seeking help on college campuses and within athletic departments.

As a result of this issue, various national and local campaigns have sprung up created by a variety of actors, most commonly, the students themselves. Although many exist, few have experienced significant successes. The major issue found among these campaigns is that they focus on awareness, and lack tangible end goals. The campaign I have designed is geared toward individual college campuses. Based on previous research, the most significant reform occurs within individual universities in response to successful campaigns executed by its student athletes. If numerous successful campaigns are continually implemented at individual universities, it can prompt change at the national level over time.

Goals

The primary goal of the campaign is to improve mental health conditions among student athletes. In order to achieve this long-term goal, it is essential to achieve a few intermediate goals. First, universities should individually implement institutional reform to better address the mental health needs of student athletes. This goal aligns with another major intermediate goal of the campaign: decreasing the stigma. As colleges implement programs within their athletic departments, it will normalize the issue and make students more likely to seek help because their problem is acknowledged by their primary community. Reducing the stigma is an essential part of the campaign because even if colleges implement new programs to assist athletes, the programs will be useless if athletes resist seeking assistance because of the stigma. The key factor to reducing the stigma is education among athletes and coaches alike. Therefore, promoting education and research across this issue area is another primary goal of the campaign. Increasing research funding is essential to the campaign because minimal research has been conducted on the issue to date. More research on the subject is crucial to understanding its impact on the athletic community. Research will also enable actors within the community to understand how to better address the issue.

Victories in this campaign are constituted by successful implementation of new resources and programs to assist student athletes. These victories can include hiring psychiatrists and sport psychologists within athletic departments and creating student athlete support groups on campus. Obtaining research funding and seeing effective studies conducted would also be considered a success for the campaign because it will enable the athletic community to understand the needs of its students and the key problems within the issue area so that better solutions can be implemented over time. A reduction in the stigma is another major indicator of success in this campaign. Although stigmas are difficult to measure, if the number of student athletes with mental health issues actively seeking help increases from its current standing of 10%, a decrease in the stigma can be inferred. Ultimately, the best indicator of victory for the campaigns is a decrease in the amount of mental health issues found across the student athlete population.

Athletes Connected established by the University of Michigan is the most successful model for assisting athletes struggling with mental health that has been developed to date. Creation of the program began in 2014 after the university received a $50,000 grant from the NCAA Innovations in Research and Practice Grant. Their program was designed in collaboration with the University of Michigan School of Public Health, Depression Center, and Athletic department “to increase awareness of mental health issues, reduce the stigma of help-seeking, and promote positive coping skills among student athletes.” [4] The actions Athletes Connected took included an educational presentation to every athletic team and its coaches, hiring three counselors within the athletic department, biweekly 75 minute support groups with clinical social workers, and producing professional-grade educational videos and media.[5] After watching the videos at Michigan, 40 students indicated that they wanted to make an appointment with a counselor to address “immediate concerns.”[6] The pilot program developed by Michigan along with its team presentations and research are available online at the Athletes Connected website, so it is readily available for other colleges to use as a model. When conducting mental health campaigns on individual campuses, students should push for their administration to implement a program similar to Athletes Connected because it is a model that has been proven effective.

Organizational Considerations

In the past, mental health campaigns have been organized by isolated, random groups of student athletes at each university. In order to create a more effective and coordinated campaign structure, I propose that mental health campaigns are facilitated by pre-existing Student Athletic Advisory Committees (SAAC). The NCAA dictates that each of its member schools should have a SAAC composed of students from each varsity sport at the school. In addition to SAACs at individual schools, SAACs exist for every conference and each of the three NCAA divisions. Their goal is to provide insight on the student athlete experience and advocate for the students when it comes to passing legislation affecting student athletes ranging from the local level at their individual schools, to the national level with NCAA legislation.[7] Because of the interconnectedness of SAACs they would serve as a prime organization to coordinate and execute mental health campaigns among student athletes. Since SAACs convene at school, conference, and national levels, these meetings can serve as an excellent medium to collaborate and share campaign successes and ideas.

In terms of tangible resources, SAACs receive support and funding from the NCAA and its athletic department at each individual school. The amount of funding varies from school to school, but all have some amount of money to allocate toward development in across their athletic community. Even if it is minimal, the financial support that comes with running a campaign through SAACs is significant in comparison to students running individual campaigns from scratch because they have a budget of zero. The reputation of SAACs is another benefit to organizing mental health campaigns through this organization. These organizations have existed since 1989, advocating for the needs of the entire student athlete population at their schools since then.[8] SAAC also has a history of working closely with the administration of its athletic department, and the broader university administration as a whole. Their connection to the NCAA also gives them credibility in comparison to another random student organization on campus.

Limitations do exist by using SAACs to conduct campaigns promoting student athlete mental health. The people running the campaign are simply students, rather than trained professionals with a background in executing effective campaigns. They lead busy lives balancing academics and athletics. Therefore, orchestrating a campaign will not be their top priority, but rather a supplementary activity in their limited free time. Media attention and outside audience development is a key factor in achieving success in a campaign, and this limitation threatens that since student athletes must compete for the spotlight against campaigns coordinated by trained professionals.

Constituents, Allies, and Opponents

The primary constituents for this issue area are student athletes themselves; more specifically, those who have been personally affected by the mental health disorders or whose close friends have. The problem directly affects only student athletes, therefore it is up to them to advocate for themselves to create a more accommodating space in their communities. If athletes fail to speak up and draw attention to the issue, college administrations will fail to acknowledge the issue and continue operating as they do presently because of budget restraints and the cost of funding new initiatives. Because student athletes voluntarily partake in NCAA sports, they lack the ability to unionize to incite reform. However, in their position as athletes they do bring profit to the university, giving them some leverage. The athletic environment and performance of teams directly affects recruiting and the future of athletics at the university. If students have negative experiences because the university refuses to help them with mental health, or if they perform poorly because they fail to receive treatment, it can negatively harm the profitability and status of a successful athletic program at an institution.

Although students choosing to participate in these campaigns can significantly impact their community in a positive manner if the campaign is successful, there are potential risks associated with participating in a campaign in this issue area. An effective tactic for change is sharing personal anecdotes about struggles with mental health because of its emotional appeal. However, students might fear ostracisiation by their fellow athletes and coaches in their community if they choose to share their personal story because of the current negative stigma. A lot of times these stories involve extremely intimate details about traumatic issues including suicide attempts, so it can be difficult to speak up about them. Nonetheless, it is crucial to include personal anecdotes in mental health campaigns because of their intense emotional pull and ability to humanize the issue area. The brave athletes that do choose to speak out can improve the conditions for those who suffer in silence.

A major ally for these campaigns are professional athletes who currently or previously struggle with mental health. Because of their fame, they have the ability to draw greater attention to this issue area than the average college student. Many athletes have already spoken out independently through the media including Michael Phelps, Dwayne Johnson, Joey Votto, Kevin Love, and Alison Schmitt. Some have even started their own campaigns such as NFL player Brandon Marshall with his foundation Project 375. Campaigns at universities should attempt utilize these athletes to the extent possible. Most of these famous athletes competed in collegiate athletics, so I propose that SAACs reach out to any famous alumni who have spoken out about mental health. At the minimum these athletes might volunteer to come speak to the school and share their story and provide an educational talk on mental health. Their influence because of their reputation would have a more significant impact on students than a random presenter giving information on mental health. This would effectively help to normalize mental health issues and fight the stigma at universities, as it has when they speak out to the national media. Moreover, students can request that the athletes advocate for new mental health programs for the student athletes if they are willing to. A recommendation from a notable professional athlete carries much more leverage than one from the average student. Although professional athletes might be unwilling to help, it is worth it to reach out to them because of the power and status they hold in the issue area. If they have already reached into the spotlight and shared their story in an attempt to help younger athletes, they might be willing to help with a campaign at their alma mater.

The primary opposition in this issue area comes as a result of funding because researching the issue and implementing new programs has a high cost. The NCAA is considered an indirect opponent in this issue area because they have taken limited action in regard to the issue, despite constant concerns expressed by its athletes. It is an extremely powerful organization in this scenario because it controls almost all collegiate athletics, governing over 1200 schools, and 23 different sports across these schools. Different actors within the NCAA have expressed varying amounts of concern in regard to the issue. Dr. Brain Hainline, the chief medical officer, had no intent of addressing mental health in 2013 when he started his position. However, after meeting with students from SAACs in all three divisions, all indicated a pressing need to focus on the issue. In response to these concerns, he started a Mental Health Task Force.[9] Other predominant actors in the NCAA do not share this positive viewpoint though. Mary Wilfert, the associate director for the NCAA Sport Science Institute argued, “intervention cannot come out of the national office” because the NCAA is “not a medical organization.”[10] Wilfert claimed the program cost, the bureaucracy, and the lack of litigation are reasons the NCAA will not tackle these issues aggressively. If mental health reform is successfully implemented, the costs for the NCAA and individual universities will be high. The initial cost of Athletes Connected started at $50,000, plus the cost of employing additional psychiatrists and counselors to conduct the programs over time.[11] This cost is insignificant for massive athletic departments in top-tier athletic schools, but it is more of a financial restraint for smaller universities.

Although the NCAA and individual universities might oppose mental health reform for its student athletes because of the high price tag, it would be unethical for either of them to blatantly state that they do not believe mental health is a real problem that affects student athletes, or that the problem is not significant enough to warrant action. This would go against these institution’s core values of fostering a healthy environment to mold college students into successful adults. The harshest commentary they can most likely state would be similar to Mary Wilfert’s, because blatantly stating that they refuse to address a problem that would negatively affects its students’ experiences might cause a public outcry and negatively affect its reputation. Therefore, their primary strategy for opposition is to brush the problem under the rug for as long as they can to avoid spending money until they receive enough pressure from students and outside actors that they are forced to act.

People have compared the issue of mental health to that of concussions in collegiate and professional sports. Addressing the issue was pushed off because of the cost until the NCAA was forced to address it once football players started dying, and others began speaking about the long term harmful health effects. Now extensive measures exist within athletic departments in the NCAA to properly treat concussions. Timothy Neal, an assistant athletic director for sports medicine at Syracuse, said, “Our understanding and care of mental health issues today is where we were with concussions 10-15 years ago.”[12] If mental health conditions continue to deteriorate among athletes, and there is a consistent rise in athlete suicides, the evolution of remedy in this issue area might mirror that of concussions in the NCAA.

Targets

The main targets are found at local levels on individual campus in this campaign, and must be tailored to the structure of each school administration. Although positions vary at different universities, the primary targets of this campaign are athletic directors, directors of sports medicine, and deans student affairs at each institution. These people have the power to implement new programs to address mental health and allocate the funding to accomplish it. A secondary target is the president of a university, the boss of athletic directors. If the president feels an issue needs to be changed within athletics, they can force the athletic director’s hand. Although it is harder to achieve success in this issue area at a national level, high status employees of the NCAA have the power to influence this issue area such as Dr. Brain Hainline, the chief medical officer. He was previously persuaded by students to view mental health as a relevant issue in the athletic community, so he could potentially be persuaded to allocate more resources to fund research and develop mental health programs in the NCAA.

Coaches and student athletes are also a primary target of the campaign in terms of decreasing the stigma. Their actions and attitudes directly create the environment in which mental health is perceived negatively, so the only way to decrease the stigma is to evolve their mindset. Coaches, however, hold more power over the stigma because they curate the culture of the team. If a coach rejects mental health, it is unlikely his or her athletes will stand up to him, but if he is accepting and open about the issue, athletes on the team will be more likely to reach out for help when they need it. It is still crucial to decrease the stigma across athletes, so individuals feel supported by team mates when seeking help.

Tactics

Social media in the new media landscape is suitable for these student-led campaigns because of its accessibility and virtually non-existent cost. Teenagers and college students are extremely active on social media, so it is an effective medium to spread ideas among the primary population that is affected by the issues, and the people who hold the power to advocate for change in the issue area. The most influential effect of the new media landscape is the newfound voice it gives student athletes. Students now hold the capability to post anything online at any time to advocate for their issue area. Although it is hard for them to reach a vast audience by using their personal accounts, the online landscape makes it much more probable for a larger news source or more powerful actor to notice their campaigns and share their story, bringing more attention to the issue. Although it is extremely helpful if these campaigns are connected to influential actors, social media still can have a substantial impact for these campaigns without reaching an extremely large audience. Because these are local campaigns on a university level, if one student posts during a campaign, it will automatically reach their target audience of other students in the athletic department. Social media makes it much easier to spread ideas across the target audience in comparison previous campaigns conducted on campuses involving flyers and posters; because of the predominance of social media among college students in the modern age, the information and message of the campaign has a much easier chance of reaching targets.

To date one of the most effective student athlete mental health campaigns that relied heavily on social media has been Oregon State University’s #DamWorthIt campaign. This campaign serves as an effective model for other universities to follow because it successfully harnessed the power of social media to enhance its other tactics. The campaign was launched by two student athletes after losing team mates to suicide; OSU lost a men’s soccer player first, and a women’s gymnast less than a year later. Although this was a tragic event, it helped give the campaign momentum by validating the urgency of the issue. This pattern can be noted across the entire issue area- when a student athlete dies, the university has no choice but to implement reform. Although tragic, if student athletes running a campaign are adamant about immense change, the primary window to achieve it is following the death of a fellow student.

#DamWorthIt started their campaign tabling at a basketball game, and invited conversations about mental health and passed out flyers with resources.[13] Their campaign continued to grow, reaching a peak at a football game in October. Students brought signs to the stadium that said I Am #DamWorthIt because_____. A promotional video for mental health was also played on the jumbotron. Students took pictures, filmed videos, and uploaded them to social media at the football game using the hashtag. After this game, the hashtag gained much more traction and was picked up by schools across the Pacific-12 Conference and Division I SAACs. The hashtag and campaign also got an abundance of local news coverage, Yogi Roth did a podcast in his series about uncovering the humanity in sports around the world, and Sports Illustrated, USA Today and Yahoo! sports published articles on it. Promoting the campaign at a football game was an effective strategy to spread their campaign because of both the local and national attention college football receives. Football games are a primary source of entertainment on a local level at universities, and they also attract massive television viewership on a national level. In response to the campaign, the school increased its mental health funding by $1 million and hired additional psychiatrists. Because of the attention broader attention it gained, the #DamWorthIt received a $60,000 grant from the Pacific-12 conference to allow them to expand the organization across the entire conference.[14]

Ultimately, the #DamWorthIt campaign and its tactics serve as an effective campaign that achieved victory on its campus. In comparison to the multitude of other student-run campaigns, this one provided the most comprehensive plan and, consequently, achieved the greatest results in its local community. Minor adjustments should be made when transforming #DamWorthIt into a model applicable for all NCAA collegiate athletics. First, the hashtag is specific to Oregon State, based on their mascot of a beaver. Most schools have their own hashtag for individual campaigns, but to maximize these campaigns reach over social media, one unifying hashtag should be used across campaigns. #ToughnessRedefined was a catchphrase used by students at Saint Michael’s College that encompasses one of the main themes of the campaign -reducing the stigma. [15]When implementing mental health campaigns at individual schools, including a mental health day during a college football game mirroring #DamWorthIt’s should serve as the climax of the campaign.

Additionally, a series of additional tactics should be employed preceding the football game. The American Athletic conference recently began a year-long mental health campaign across all of its member schools called #POW6ERFULMINDS. A key tactic of their campaign is using the color green, the color of mental health awareness, to normalize mental health concerns among athletes and fight the stigma. Each sport team hosts Green Games throughout the year where they wear green accents whether it is through their shoe laces, swim cap, wristbands, or t-shirts.[16] Like football games, all sporting events are a primary venue to gain media attention and social media postings by students through the year.

#DamWorthIt, Athletes Connected, and #DamWorthIt all produce videos about individual athlete’s mental health stories in order to personalize the stories. These videos have shown effectiveness in decreasing the stigma in the past, so it is essential to include them as a tactic. Once produced, they can be shared at individual schools and across schools on social media. Similarly, social media campaigns should also be a key tactic employed by these campaigns because of its accessibility and ability to easily reach the target population. Schools should regularly employ the hashtag of the campaign to share events, news, and information about mental health through the duration of the campaign. Innovative photography campaigns also have a tendency to go viral and can enable student athletes to potentially to bring more attention to their issue via social media. The pressure and attention accumulated from online traffic after the #DamWorthIt campaign successfully improved OSU’s mental health resources for student athletes, so it is a feasible way to accomplish change at other universities.

A final tactic schools should take is creating a petition throughout their campaign targeting the athletic director, sports medicine director, or relevant dean of student affairs at their school in support of reforming student athlete mental health. The petition should present the effectiveness of Athletes Connected, and demand that their school implement a similar program to address the mental health needs of student athletes. This is necessary so that a tangible item documenting widespread student support comes as a result of the campaign. This tactic showed success at Ohio University when the student senate passed a bill demanding the university take responsibility for student athlete mental health during its mental health campaign. In order to institute this change, the students conducted a poll of 198 student athletes asking whether one or more of their team mates would benefit from having a sport psychologist accessible to them. 88% responded yes. In response, the Dean of Students invested $1 million into OU’s Counseling and Psychological Services and hired two psychiatrists in response.[17]The aim of this tactic is to put direct pressure on the school’s administration by displaying the student body strongly favors reform.

Defeating the stigma is not something that happens overnight, so these campaigns should span extensive periods of time. I propose that these campaigns run a minimum of three months from the commencement of school in August and culminate with the football games in October/November. Following the football game, students can present the petition to the administration and demand action.

Conclusion

The most effective process for evaluating change in this issue area is referred to as “muddling through” by Charles Lindblom. This model tests the effectiveness of a means to an end. [18]Campaigns in this issue area can consider their efforts successful after an athletic department implements new programs to better assist its athletes. However, the ultimate goal of these campaigns is the decrease the predominance of mental health issues in collegiate student athletes. Using the “muddling through” method, after new policies and practices have been implemented, their effectiveness can be measured by comparing rates of student athlete mental health before and after the policy existed. After collecting data and analyzing the results, actors can evaluate whether the problem was fixed. This process will allow campaigners to determine the success of their campaign, then formulate the next steps.

Ultimately, this campaign plan aims to pull to best strategies from a plethora of existing student athlete led mental health campaigns in order to create one comprehensive campaign plan with the highest odds of achieving success. Countless versions of mental health campaigns exist across different universities, but they would have a more substantial effect on the collegiate athletic community if they had coordinated goals and tactics. The campaigns should pressure an athletic director and sports medicine staff at individual universities to implement a program similar to Athletes Connected at the University of Michigan to create a healthier environment for students struggling with their mental health in athletic departments. This program encompasses solutions to the major goals of the campaign including implementing institutional reform within the athletic department, and continually making an effort to decrease the negative stigma of mental health via social media platforms and capitalizing on sporting events in the community. Local campaigns on university campuses have successfully created change within an institution to date, and will continue to show change is student athletes effectively organize campaigns. As local campaigns continue to have this effect, change will become visible on at national level.

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Footnotes

[1] Vickers, E. Mental Health in the Student Athlete. Believe Perform. Retrieved from http://believeperform.com/wellbeing/mental-health-in-the-student-athlete/ [2] Ibid. [3] Eisenberg, D. (2014). Developing and Evaluating a Model Program for Supporting the Mental Health of Student Athletes. University of Michigan. Retrieved from https://athletesconnected.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2014-NCAA-Final-Report-main-narrative.pdf [4] Athletes Connected. (2017). Regents of the University of Michigan. Retrieved from https://athletesconnected.umich.edu/about/ [5] Hall, K. (2016). Athletes Connected: Fighting the hidden battles. The Michigan Daily. Retrieved from https://www.michigandaily.com/section/sports/athletes-connected-mental-health-garrick-roemer [6] Eisenberg, Daniel. NCAA Innovations Grant: Final Report. University of Michigan. Retrieved from https://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2.%20Developing%20and%20Evaluating%20.pdf [7]NCAA SAAC Informational Guide and Best Practices. (2012) NCAA. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/Division+III+SAAC+Informational+Guide+and+Best+Practices+(updated+6-10-12).pdf [8] Ibid. [9] Rehagen, R. (2017). Toughness, Redefined. NCAA Champion Magazine Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/static/champion/toughness-redefined/ [10] Born, Jayce. (Summer 2017). “National Protection of Student-Athlete Mental Health: The Case for Federal Regulation over the National Collegiate Athletic Association.” Indiana Law Journal, 93, no.3, (2017): p.1222. [11] [11] Eisenberg, Daniel. NCAA Innovations Grant: Final Report. University of Michigan. Retrieved from https://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2.%20Developing%20and%20Evaluating%20.pdf [12] Flanagan, F. (2014). When College Athletes Face Depression. The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/03/when-college-athletes-face-depression/284484/ [13] Schnell, L. (2018) Oregon State athletes launch athletes launch mental health initative to help students with depression. USA Today. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/pac12/2018/01/19/oregon-state- athletes-launch-mental-health-initiative-depression-damworthit/1047901001/ [14] Schmidt, A. (2018). Dam Worth It campaign changes mental health conversations. The Daily Barometer. Retrieved from http://www.orangemedianetwork.com/daily_barometer/dam-worth-it-campaign-changes-mental-health-conversations/article_80117682-56f3-11e8-b480-5f551358424b.html [15] [15] Rehagen, R. (2017). Toughness, Redefined. NCAA Champion Magazine http://www.ncaa.org/static/champion/toughness-redefined/ [16] Barlow, G. (2017). American Athletic Conference SAAC Initiatives Year Long Mental Health Awareness Events. American Athletic Conference. Retrieved from http://www.theamerican.org/news/2017/9/22/_0922170240.aspx [17] Jewell, Flannery. (2018). Some OU student-athletes want specialized mental health care. The Post: Athens. Retrieved from https://www.thepostathens.com/article/2018/03/student-athlete-mental-health-bill [18] Lindblom, C. (1959). The Science of "Muddling Through". Public Administration Review, 19(2), 79-88. doi:10.2307/973677