Oregon State University is partnering with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for its annual Out of the Darkness campus walk on Apirl 20.

The event starts at 10 a.m, followed by an honor beads ceremony and the walk begins at noon. The theme for this year’s walk is Black Joy.

Registration is free, with the option to donate on the event webpage.

This event will take place in SEC plaza starting at 10 a.m with a resource fair and “hope activities,” according to Kayleigh Franca, the student lead for this event.

Following that, at 11 a.m there will be a ceremony, which involves a speech about this year’s theme led by coordinators for Black and African American Mental Health and Wellness at OSU’s Counseling and Psychological Services: Chanale Propst and Ireti DeBato-Cancel. There will also be some performances featuring Anderson Dubois and Rian Gayle.

According to Franca, these Out of the Darkness walks are designed to engage youth and young adults in the fight to prevent suicide, the third leading cause of death among people ages 15-24.

Franca highlighted the honor bead ceremony that will take place during the live programming. These honor beads are color coded to signify your connection to the cause; participants display their beads together showing each other that no one is alone.

After this the walk will begin, following the route found on the event website here.