PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State Athletics recently received the Washington State Psychological Associations' 2018 Public Citizen Award for the athletic department's commitment to mental health awareness to WSU student-athletes.
 
"This is a great honor and reflects the tremendous amount of work done by our student-athletes, coaches, staff and colleagues throughout our university," said WSU Director of Athletics Pat Chun. "Much more work still needs to be done. Suicide prevention awareness and mental health awareness will continue to be a priority for our athletics department. We will continue to work to implement best practices and provide additional resources to assist those who are in need."
 
According to the WSPA's Board of Trustees, who chose the recipients, the award was given based of news reports on the WSU Athletic Department introducing several initiatives to address the mental health needs of the student-athlete community, including formal mental health screenings and the addition of a clinical psychologist in the department.
 
In addition to WSU Athletics, the award was also bestowed upon the WSU School of Medicine.
 
The WSPA Public Citizen award recognizes an individual or organization that has contributed to the psychological health of their community.