Spring forum speaker focuses on mental health awareness

Mississippi University for Women’s spring Forum Series hosted by the Gordy Honors College opens Thursday, Feb. 2 with mental health advocate Alex Bush.

Originally from Denver, Bush has been a passionate spokesperson for mental health awareness since losing a parent and multiple friends to suicide and learning to live with mental illness herself. She has spoken to more than 10,000 students and other people across the country and contributed to the Emmy-nominated “Teens2Teens Colorado Public Service Announcement” project.

Now a student at University of Mississippi, she is a board member for National Alliance for Mental Health-Mississippi and President of her campus Active Minds chapter. A Truman Scholarship finalist, she hopes to complete graduate work in clinical psychology and promote education policy around mental health issues.

The conversation with Bush is in conjunction with The W’s Common Read of Alexi Pappas’ memoir “Bravey,” in which the Olympic athlete recounts living with mental illness and how she persevered.

The event is also co-sponsored by the The W Counseling Center and The W’s Active Minds chapter and Psychology Club.

The event begins at 6 p.m. in Nissan Auditorium on The W’s campus.

For more information, email honors@muw.edu, call (662) 241-6850, or visit muw.edu/honors/forum.