The Oregon State athletic department on Wednesday announced it is launching a student athlete mental health awareness initiative.

The campaign, known as #DamWorthIt, has been spearheaded former Oregon State standout gymnast Taylor Ricci and current men's soccer member Nathan Braaten.

In a statement, Ricci said the goal of the campaign was to "destigmatize and spread awareness about the epidemic of mental health in collegiate athletics."

The idea for the campaign started when Ricci and Braaten, who had become acquainted when Ricci was president of the OSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, re-connected after they had each lost a teammate to suicide.

The announcement of the new campaign came the day after the apparent suicide of Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski, although the timing was coincidental.

"It's incredibly overdue that people are starting to have this conversation," Ricci said by phone from Indianapolis. "... What we hope that this campaign can do is show that athletes are not super-human. We struggle with mental health, as well."

Braaten will be at a booth in Gill Coliseum on Thursday with other student athletes when the Oregon State men's basketball team hosts UCLA. They will hand out promotional resources, wristbands, posters and other information to spread awareness about the initiative. There will also be a booth with representatives from the OSU chapter of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).

According to the OSU release, the #DamWorthIt Campaign will also be present at the Beavers' Jan. 28 wrestling meet against Northern Colorado, their Feb. 2 women's basketball game against Stanford and on Feb. 17 for a gymnastics meet against Arizona.

-- Danny Moran