Dear You is a student-led movement built around the idea of connection before crisis. We put students at the forefront of mental health leadership and help build campus cultures where people feel connected and reminded that they are not alone.
CONNECTION BEFORE CRISIS.
MENTAL HEALTH
DOESN'T START IN A
COUNSELING OFFICE.
Most of the time, it starts much earlier. It starts with feeling known.
In the classroom. At the coffee shop. In the gym. On a run. In the dorm. In the car after a long day. In the five minutes after class when somebody notices you aren't quite yourself.
Dear You creates more reasons for students to know and show up for one another. When people feel connected, checking in feels natural — and it's easier to notice when someone goes quiet.
of college students said they often feel isolated from others.
WHY THE MIDWEST + MOUNTAIN WEST
ALL FIVE DEAR YOU LAUNCH STATES RECORDED 2024 SUICIDE RATES ABOVE THE U.S. AVERAGE.
College isolation: Healthy Minds Study, 2024–25. State suicide rates are age-adjusted, all ages, per 100,000 people: CDC, 2024. Healthy Minds ↗ CDC ↗
ONE CLEAR MESSAGE
CALL YOUR
PEOPLE.
Fall is about making Dear You familiar before Ruck Week. Our chapters use media, student stories, and campus outreach to introduce what we're building and give students a simple reason to reach out to somebody they care about.
Call the friend you keep meaning to call. Check in on the roommate who's been quiet. Send the text. Make the plan. It doesn't have to become a big conversation.
MONTHS OF
SHOWING UP.
Then one day
to do it together.
Starting in January, chapters lead weekly training sessions for students. The point isn't only the miles. It's spending months showing up for the same people while raising money for a mental health organization in the chapter's local community.
Ruck Week is where it comes together: movement, mental health, fundraising, and a campus full of people doing something hard side by side.
PART OF
CAMPUS LIFE.
Dear You isn't supposed to disappear between big events.
Our chapters spend the year meeting students where they already are — through tabling, campus pop-ups, collaborations with student organizations, training meetups, student stories, and conversations that make checking in feel normal.
By Ruck Week, the name should already feel familiar.
FIVE CAMPUSES.
ONE IDEA.
Different campuses across the Midwest and Mountain West, building toward the same thing: stronger connection before crisis. Meet the chapter presidents below.
student leaders building Dear You where they live, study, train, and show up. Over the year, we’ll share what Dear You means to the students building it on their own campuses.
Five campuses launch together this September.
THIS IS
YEAR ONE.
The goal is to build something the next class of students inherits, carries forward, and makes stronger — year after year across the Midwest and Mountain West.
SHOW UP
WHERE YOU ARE.
Join your campus chapter, train for the ruck, collaborate with a local team, or start by calling somebody today.
Dear You is not a counseling or crisis service. If you or someone you know needs immediate support in the U.S., call or text 988. For campus-specific support, use your university's counseling or emergency resources.