Suicide Prevention Initiatives & Programming

In collaboration with the Well-being Collective, U-M recently added 988 to all student MCards. Adding the 988 lifeline number to U-M IDs is a best practice for suicide prevention and a high-priority recommendation from the Jed Foundation, of which the University of Michigan is a member institution.

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the United States and its territories. The 988 Lifeline is comprised of a national network of over 200 local crisis centers, combining local care and resources with national standards and best practices.

Let's Talk is a free program that supports U-M students starting their mental health journeys. It provides casual meetings with counselors during specific drop-in times for initial support and advice.

Trained mental health counselors are available for drop-in conversations at different times and locations across campus Monday through Friday. This informal, confidential “office hours” style can be a great fit for students unsure about formal counseling; for those with a specific, time-limited concern they’d like to talk through; or those seeking information on campus resources. Please note: this is not meant for crisis or emergency support. 

Fresh Check Day is a nationally recognized suicide prevention program created in 2012 by the Jordan Porco Foundation. The program is designed to connect college students to mental health and suicide prevention resources through an engaging and interactive expo booth event. Its model is based on four strategic areas of the JED Foundation's comprehensive approach: 

1. Develop life skills
2. Promote social connectedness
3. Identify students at risk
4. Increase help-seeking behavior.

Through collaboration with multiple campus departments and student organizations, Fresh Check Day is a lively event filled with activities, food, and prizes. Each booth features an interactive activity that allows students to explore mental health topics, improve knowledge on suicide prevention, and increase their awareness of campus resources.

The University of Michigan is excited to host Fresh Check Day on Friday, October 9th, 2026, from 12pm-4pm on The Diag.

UHC offers a plethora of student group involvement opportunities for U-M undergraduate and graduate students. Whether students would like to promote health awareness, participate in peer-facilitated support groups, or advise UHC on mental health outreach to their peers, there is something for everyone to get involved in across campus.

UHC student groups and programs on campus:

Individual Peer Counseling

CAPS in Action

UHC Student Advisory Board

Wolverine Support Network

Lift the Mask

UHC Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers an expansive array of workshops and presentations for the U-M campus community. Topics range from Adjustment to U-M and CAPS 101 to Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) training, among others. All outreach presentations can be tailored to meet the specific needs and interests of the requester or group. Interested parties can fill out this form to request workshops and presentations.

PlayDay: 

• This interactive event encourages students to embrace their inner child. In partnership with the UHC Student Advisory Board, students can eat pizza, play games, and make arts and crafts with their peers while learning about mental health promotion and prevention.

Mental Health Speak Out: 

• This student-focused event, hosted by several U-M mental health student organizations, features U-M undergraduate and graduate students sharing their personal mental health journeys. Attendees can also learn more about participating student organizations, spend time with therapy dogs, and engage in other supportive activities.

Started in 2012, the University of Michigan UHC CAPS initiated the "Messages of Hope" project to invite our campus community to identify day-to-day messages of hope that help us when students are in a crisis.

This effort is in the larger ongoing "Do Something" campaign, started in 2007, in which UHC CAPS encourages the campus community to engage in student mental health support. Even if you don’t know exactly what to do – do something.

To reduce the silence and the mystery that surrounds suicide, we offer these three videos (linked below), featuring knowledgeable voices, focused on what contributes to thoughts of suicide among our U-M students and, more importantly, how you can respond.

JED Partnership:

The University of Michigan has joined JED Campus in support of student well-being and mental health. The program is a nationwide initiative of The Jed Foundation (JED) designed to help schools evaluate and strengthen their mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention programs and systems to ensure that schools have the strongest possible mental health safety nets. This is a multi-year initiative that not only assesses and enhances work already underway but also helps create positive, lasting, systemic change in the campus community.

Well-being Collective:

The Well-being Collective at the University of Michigan is a collaborative effort focused on making U-M a better place to live, work and learn for our students, faculty and staff by implementing a system-wide approach to supporting well-being across our campus.