As part of its efforts to address the critical mental health issues in our community, the UNLV School of Public Health has partnered with The Defensive Line, a national nonprofit organization focused on suicide prevention.
Created out of tragedy, The Defensive Line was founded in 2021 by NFL defensive tackle and former Las Vegas Raider Solomon Thomas after the devastating loss of his sister, Ella, to suicide.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2021 suicide was the second leading cause of death for young people ages 10 to 34, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that suicide among Black youth has risen faster than any other racial/ethnic group in the last two decades.
The partnership with the School of Public Health began in 2022, giving the national nonprofit a direct connection to the local community and opportunities to collaborate across the UNLV campus.
The Defensive Line has trained more than 500 soon-to-be teachers, through UNLV’s College of Education, to identify signs of suicidal tendencies and provide the tools, resources, and next steps that can be used in the classroom. The Defensive Line has trained more than 4,000 leaders across the country.
The Defensive Line also plays an important role in the School of Public Health’s RUSH (Raiders UNLV Sport Health) program. The sports clinic teaches local middle school girls how to play flag football while also teaching them the fundamentals of nutrition, physical fitness, and mental health. The Defensive Line leads the mental health component of the clinic.
To increase its impact in Southern Nevada, The Defensive Line hired recent UNLV graduate Ammir Aziz as the regional project manager.
“There is an urgent need in our community to remove the stigma and shame surrounding suicide by providing resources and tools to ensure young people can get help if they are struggling,” said Aziz. “Through our workshops and partnerships, we are working to break down the barriers so people know they are not alone.”
Aziz works at the School of Public Health and builds strong relationships within the community on behalf of The Defensive Line to end the epidemic of suicide, especially for people of color.
“Partnering with The Defensive Line not only addresses a critical issue in our community, it’s an opportunity for collaboration within the university as well as with our other community partners,” said Shawn Gerstenberger, Dean of the School of Public Health.
In addition to its outreach at UNLV and within the Clark County School District, The Defensive Line has provided workshops on suicide prevention for the Nevada School Counselors Association, UNLV College of Education, and the City of Las Vegas.
The ultimate goal is to educate adults about youth suicide and create safe places for young people to be honest and vulnerable about what they are going through.
“We’re not teaching everyone to be a crisis counselor; we’re helping people connect on a human level to each other’s suffering,” said Chris Thomas, co-founder and CEO of The Defensive Line. “Having open conversations about suicide is a critical step in suicide prevention.”
To learn more about The Defensive Line, visit thedefensiveline.org, or to schedule a suicide prevention workshop with your organization, email Ammir Aziz at ammir.aziz@unlv.edu.
