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“Every green bandana represents someone who has taken the initiative to want to help other people and to want to learn how to help other people properly. I like seeing them around campus because we say, like, if you’re struggling and you need someone to talk to and you don’t know who you can, just look around campus and anyone with a green bandana … they’re showing that they’re willing to help you.”
— Nadia Al-Murrani
The sound of chatter and sliding chairs filled Room 201 in McCain Auditorium as members of the Kansas State Symphony Orchestra — having just concluded a lively Monday night rehearsal — organized themselves into groups. Munching on baked goods made by the orchestra’s leadership team, they sat attentively as members of Thrive, a student well-being organization, began their presentation on the Green Bandana Project.
It’s hard to walk through K-State’s campus without seeing at least one student with a green bandana tied to their backpack. The bandanas represent that a student has completed a suicide prevention training through the Green Bandana Project, a national suicide prevention program the K-State Symphony plans to highlight for their concert on Dec. 4.
Dr. Rachel Dirks, director of orchestral studies, had members of the K-State Symphony stay after their evening rehearsal on Oct. 27 to attend a green bandana training. Dirks said orchestra members will wear green bandanas during their performance of “Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64” by Sergei Prokofiev at their next concert.
“Romeo and Juliet, in particular, is a really sad story, which ends, of course, in the ending of one’s life,” Dirks said. “And so this is an opportunity for us to explore all of the emotions that go along with love and hate and everything in between … and the green bandanas are a way for us to signify that we support one another and support our community.”
Along with her position at K-State, Dirks is also the current chair of the American String Teachers Association Health and Wellness Committee and has published numerous works exploring the intertwining of music and mental health.
“My line of research is about mental health in the music experience and how music can impact mental health, ” Dirks said. “And so I feel it’s very important that we understand where we are … as a society and also understand some ways in which we can start making positive strides towards a more healthy mental outlook … we do that through the training, but also through the music that we play.”
This isn’t the first time the orchestra has worn green bandanas at a concert. Dirks said members also wore them during a 2023 concert titled “Love and Hate,” when they performed Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture.”
“During that particular season, we were exploring emotional dichotomies, “ Dirks said. “And we were exploring, again, the story of Romeo and Juliet, and we really dug into the emotions of the music itself.”
Regan Lattey, a senior in violin performance, is part of the K-State Symphony’s leadership team and was a freshman when the orchestra last wore green bandanas at a concert. She said she remembers how moving it was, and is glad they are wearing them again this year.
“Looking back at everything I’ve played at K-State in four years, that was like one of the most impactful concerts, and I’ve heard the same thing from my peers, my parents, who went to that concert,” Lattey said. “So I’m really excited to circle back to that … because I think not only the green bandana training is really useful, but just understanding that as musicians, we have the capability to tie it [mental health] into everything that we do.”
Members of Thrive, known as “Navigators,” led the orchestra’s green bandana training on Oct. 27. Thrive is a K-State student well-being organization with a primary focus on promoting mental health and suicide prevention through their collaboration with the Green Bandana Project. They conduct open training each month, but campus organizations such as the symphony and fraternities can also request training.
Nadia Al-Murrani, a junior in biology education and president of Thrive, was one of the three Thrive Navigators who trained the K-State Symphony. She said the green bandanas are a way that K-State students can build community and show support for one another.
“Every green bandana represents someone who has taken the initiative to want to help other people and to want to learn how to help other people properly,” she said. “I like seeing them around campus because we say, like, if you’re struggling and you need someone to talk to and you don’t know who you can, just look around campus and anyone with a green bandana … they’re showing that they’re willing to help you.”