Mississippi Valley State University News August 25, 2015 MVSU Among Coalition Stressing Suicide, & Alcohol Abuse Prevention According to national statistics, suicides claim the lives of more than 41,000 people annually-and are the second leading cause of death on college campuses. Alcohol is the most abused substance. As MVSU begins the 2015-16 school year, the Mississippi Coalition for Partners in Prevention (MCPP) is launching a media campaign to combat suicide and alcohol abuse. As part of the 20-week campaign, the university and all of the state's other public institutions of higher learning, as well as a majority of community colleges in the state, are being flooded with posters and social media messages providing helpful tips, statistics, positive messages and information to incoming students. "Hotline" telephone numbers are also provided. The Student Counseling Center hopes that the students will be receptive to this social media campaign and that it will play a significant role in raising awareness and reducing suicide and alcohol abuse, not only on our campus, but all colleges and universities involved. The Counseling Center serves as MCPP's campus contact, and will provide weekly messages compiled by the coalition via Twitter @MVSU<https://twitter.com/MSUHEW>DEVILS and Facebook at facebook.com/valley.state. For more on MCPP, visit www.health.msstate.edu/staydry/index.php<http://www.health.msstate.edu/staydry/index.php> SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.