The framed funeral program for Pennebaker was held by a brother throughout the event.
Editor’s note: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.
“We saw how much it hurt us and how much it affected our community, and we don’t want that to happen to other people,” Phi Kappa Tau President Thomas Holliman said.
Last August, Mississippi State University lost not just a student, but a friend, a loved one and a brother of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.
Maxwell Curtis Pennebaker was 19 years old when he took his own life, and in remembrance of him, the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity and several other Greek organizations on campus teamed up to host an inaugural Suicide Awareness Walk.
The walk was held on Sept. 10, which was declared World Suicide Prevention Day in 2003 by the International Association for Suicide Prevention in conjunction with the World Health Organization.
Students and community members were invited to Chadwick Lake for the two-hour event Tuesday night, which encouraged people to come together as one body and have honest conversations about mental health.
