ASWSU hosted its annual Green Day Mental Health Festival, transforming the rooftop of the Terrell Library into a celebration focused on wellness and community on April 10. The festival is a growing campus tradition and was spearheaded by Jonah Oh, ASWSU student and academic affairs deputy director.
This year’s event brought students together under sunny skies with upbeat music, therapy dogs and popular vendors like Panda Express. Community members were invited to learn about campus resources and enjoy an afternoon centered on music and mental health awareness. Dozens of organizations tabled the event, offering students items such as free tie-dye and T-shirts, along with resources like pregnancy tests and pizza cutters from Coug Pantry.
The three-hour event aimed to highlight mental health resources both on and off campus while giving students a space to relax and take a break from academics.
Oh has served as a resident advisor since his sophomore year. The idea for the festival began when he was going through a difficult time and wanted to find a way to lift his spirits.
During his freshman year, Oh and his friends came across green face paint and used it to brighten their moods. That spontaneous act sparked what would later become Green Day, a campus-wide event promoting mental health awareness and community resilience.
“I was tired of feeling blue,” Oh said. “My boy was like, ‘Don’t feel blue, feel green!’ and he gave me this green face paint. I thought that was hilarious. I put a green shirt on, I painted my face and then we went to the global market. We were living at Scott-Coman. I bought everything that I could find that was green and we went to Scott-Coman and gave it out to everybody.”
Oh continued the tradition throughout his time at WSU, expanding the event each year with help from peers and university departments. As his role on campus has grown, so has the festival.
The event has become one of ASWSU’s signature spring programs, promoting the idea that mental health should be a year-round conversation, not just a crisis response.
“When I came back to Scott-Coman as an RA [Resident Advisor] we did the same thing, but we did it a little bigger. It was amazing, it was beautiful,” Oh said. “Then I became an SRA in Rogers last year and I worked with Sebastian Sanders [previous ASWSU director of community affairs] to make it even bigger. This year, I got to be in this position and work with Sophie Kirov [director of university affairs] and these amazing people that make things happen.”
Oh currently serves as the senior resident advisor for Rogers Hall. He was a resident of Scott-Coman during his freshman year, later an RA there, and has been an SRA for Rogers during his junior and senior years. He said he hopes the Green Day festival helps WSU contribute to mental health conversations on a broader scale.
Green Day featured tables from a variety of campus and local organizations, including the National Residence Hall Honorary, Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse, the Office of the Dean of Students and Cougar Health Services. Each table provided its own spin on wellness and support, offering activities and educational materials.
NRHH president Reyna Nava said the event was a valuable opportunity to connect with students and share the group’s mission. The NRHH encourages students to engage with the campus through community service and volunteering. The organization recently held a winter clothing drive to support homeless shelters in Spokane, Wash. Any student who has lived in a dorm for at least one semester is eligible to join.
Oh said he hopes the festival reminds students that it’s okay not to be okay.
