Spotlight: BCU Freshman starts black mental health organization on campus

Writer: Raven Harper

Bethune Cookman freshman, Spencer Kennedy Watts found what most HBCU’s lack to offer and decided to take the matter into his own hands by bringing it to the campus himself.

Spencer Watts founded African Americans Invested in Mental Health (AAIM), an organization that strives to effectuate awareness of mental health within the African American community by providing knowledge on mental health issues while instilling a sense of camaraderie within African Americans.

Spencer had the idea to create this organization from a mental struggle he encountered his first year of college at Bethune. During his freshman year, he claimed he was exposed to the severity of mental health and the negative effects it can have on the mind, soul, and body.

Building relationships with his peers, he noticed their shares of mental turmoil that they were experiencing too. Spencer came to the realization that a trend in the African American community was the behavior to neglect feelings other than positive ones. After seeing this pattern, he decided to do something about it.

“African Americans must be knowledgeable on mental health to ensure that we get the best out of life. We must stop neglecting how we feel, thus inhibiting our ability to live happier and serene lives full of opportunity. AAIM will be the driving force,” Watts stated.

Through AAIM, the students of Bethune Cookman will be able to attend mental health seminars that go into depth on the issue as well as way to cope, positive therapy, as well as events and activities on campus designed to promote happiness within the student body, interact with other students building that sense of camaraderie within the Wildcat family.

AAIM will be an exclusive organization of about ten to 20 students that will spread nothing but awareness and serve as leaders and the change.

The organization will also consist of a peer-mentoring program to incoming freshman called, Fostering Freshman. AAIM members will build bonds with incoming freshman, helping their matriculation to collegiate living easier. Having someone to push them to get involved, maximize their time at Bethune Cookman University and have someone to lean on when times get rough.

They will also travel to middle and high schools in the Daytona Beach area to pour and instill knowledge into the youth.

Spencer has big goals for AAIM in the future.

“Our goal is to present mental health in a very transparent and fun way. The way mental health is presented nowadays is in a quite boring way. Our goal is to change the way the awareness of mental illness is spread,” Watts said.

When asked what makes AAIM peer mentorship different that other peer mentorship programs on college campuses, Spencer responded,

“ From what I’ve seen in mentoring programs, diligence and consistency are lacking. Fostering Freshmen will build never-ending bonds that must be cared for every single day. We will actually be working with them side by side as much as we know how to make sure they are getting the most out of college. Consistency is key.”

Like the old saying says, age is nothing but a number. Freshman, Spencer Kennedy Watts, is out there making the most of his college tenure. Talk about taking an L and making something out of it. Stay up-to-date with Spencer and AAIM by following @spencrwatts and @bcuaaim on Instagram.