Spring break Instagram feeds are normally filled with sunny beach photos; however, this year, things took a chillier turn. Aside from the typical vacation dumps, many Staples students posted videos participating in the notorious ice bucket challenge, which caused an internet storm in 2014 to raise awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) research. Now, over 10 years later, the trend has returned with a new purpose.
This round of the ice bucket trend was started by the University of South Carolina’s (USC) Mental Illness Needs Discussion (MIND) club, which is partnering with Active Minds to raise funds for supporting suicide prevention efforts, promoting daily mindfulness and overall building a supportive community that normalizes mental health conversation.
Active Minds is the largest nonprofit in the United States that mobilizes youth to transform mental health norms across society. The goal was to raise $250,000 through the ice bucket challenge, but it has been surpassed at $333,289, and the challenge continues.
According to Active Minds, 50% of people will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime. A majority of mental illnesses start between the ages of 14-24, and suicide is the second leading cause of death for college students. Last year, Active Minds had over 600 campus chapters at high schools and colleges nationwide.
The challenge took off on March 31 on the USC MIND clubs’ Instagram. Several club members recorded themselves doing the challenge, and then nominated 10 others. From there, the trend has spiraled into a global phenomenon, expanding to Westport and across the globe.
“I saw it everywhere, just out of nowhere,” Uzi Greenman ’26 said.
TikTok stars such as James Charles, Brooke Monk and Haley Kalil have all participated in the challenge.
Katharine Frank ’24, a student at USC, participated in the challenge early on with many of her sorority sisters. She first noticed the challenge spark on campus earlier this month, but in the last two weeks, she has seen many of her friends who don’t go to USC participate.
“Honestly, I did not expect it to go beyond my school, and I am still shocked to see my friends at different colleges or my friends in high school participating in the challenge,” Frank said. “I don’t think anyone here expected it to go this far.”
Despite efforts, some question how effective the challenge is. Many people who participated in the challenge still do not know the cause behind it.
“I feel like it is kind of disconnected, [people do the trend] cause it’s fun,” Greenman said.
According to Frank, the MIND club has spread awareness on campus, advocating their mission and educating students on their goals. However, she acknowledges how this hasn’t happened everywhere the challenge has spread to
“When it was just in my school, there was more awareness around mental health,” Frank said. “I feel like now people are just treating it as an ice bucket challenge because people don’t know the actual point.”
