Every step is for Owen

After Quakers football captain Owen Thomas committed suicide last April, his Penn family attended the viewing and funeral, took finals and parted ways for the summer.

When his friends returned to Philadelphia for New Student Orientation, they knew they wanted to commemorate their fallen friend.

While Owen’s football team dedicated its season to its captain this past year, his friends still needed closure.

So on Sunday at 4 p.m., a commemorative walk for Owen will be held at Franklin Field in hopes of celebrating his life and raising awareness of suicide prevention.

“If this prevents one person from committing suicide or shows somebody that there’s people that can help them, then we’ve done our job,” said senior Jackie Haas, a primary organizer of the event.

While Haas has known since NSO that she wanted to do something to celebrate the life of her friend, it wasn’t until later that she and her friends knew exactly what to do.

In October, about 10 of Owen’s closest friends, including Haas and senior Rachel Marchand, participated in a charity walk for the Philadelphia chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). They all wore the number 40 on their backs, and Donna Ambrogi recognized the number.

Ambrogi is the mother of Kyle and Greg, both former Penn football players. Kyle was a running back for the Quakers before he committed suicide midway through the 2005 season. Since then, Donna Ambrogi has been the go-to woman for Philadelphia’s chapter of AFSP.

Ambrogi approached the group, and as soon as the walk — which Haas and Marchand both called “therapeutic” — ended, Haas knew what to do.

“As soon as I finished it, I knew this was something I was going to start planning, and I’ve been in the works with this since November,” Haas said.

For Marchand, the best way to cope with loss is to talk about it whenever necessary. In that regard, she, Haas and the rest of her friends are similar to Ambrogi, who has dedicated much of her life to AFSP.

“I think [Ambrogi] is like the anomaly that we are,” Marchand said. “She also has turned it into a positive, and she’s trying to help people. She helps this organization because she knows the loss a million more times than we ever will.”

This Sunday, Ambrogi will be the keynote speaker following an hour-long walk around Franklin Field’s track. Defensive line coach Jim Schaefer, who recruited Thomas and was very close to him, will also speak.

After the formal remarks, an “open forum” will be held, and students can “talk to Owen or just to their experience — anything,” Marchand explained.

Suicide isn’t rare, but as Marchand noted, “It’s rare that people talk about it.”

Meanwhile during the event, some of Owen’s teammates, juniors Greg Van Roten and Fred Craig, will run a skills event and raffle off Penn football gear. The duo has also been integral in fundraising and coordinating the event itself.

“We’re losing way too many of our bright young people to suicide, and [the walk] is to raise awareness and let people know there is hope if you’re having trouble,” Craig said.

As of Wednesday, the group had raised over $9,600 toward the goal of $10,000 to donate to ASFP and expects to exceed their original goal.

Marchand is quick to point out the event is not meant to “glorify” suicide or the way Owen died.

“It’s glorifying him as a person and raising awareness to our cause,” she said.

While Owen’s parents will likely not be in attendance, his mother did write to Haas in an email saying that AFSP is creating a mural near Penn’s campus, which will include a section for Owen.

Admission to the event is free, and Allegro, Cavanaugh’s, Cream and Sugar and Koch’s Deli, among others, will provide food in exchange for small donations. Commemorative T-shirts will also be sold for $10 Sunday.

All proceeds will go directly to AFSP for suicide awareness and prevention.

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