DASH is excited to announce the 8th annual GameFACES Program! Modeled after Faces of Community (traditionally held during NSO for all new Stanford students), GameFACES highlights the challenges, personal development, and stories of resilience of Stanford student-athletes. Join the student-athlete community as they share their stories and come together for a night of community building with the broader Stanford campus.

Story topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Mental health challenges (eg. depression, anxiety, substance use, etc.)
• Transition into/out of college
• Illness/coping with injury
• Personal development and self-discovery
• Navigating relationships (eg. friends, family, romantic, teammates, coaches, etc.)
• Dealing with grief and loss

This year’s program will also include a *new pilot* as an extension of the traditional GameFACES program. Three student-athletes will share their stories on the Tree Talk* podcast as well as the GameFACES webpage populated on the GoStanford website.

The goal of this pilot is to provide additional avenues for storytelling to student-athletes who are not able to participate in the main program. It also allows student-athlete stories to live on and be shared in the weeks, months, and years after the program on May 6th.

Historical Context

GameFACES is an event where collegiate student-athletes are given a platform to openly share their struggles with mental health concerns and other stressors. Originating at Stanford in 2017, GameFACES has garnered a reputation for consistently initiating important conversations in the mental health landscape. 

While GameFACES brings these resources to light, it is not merely an awareness campaign. Rather, GameFACES aims to engage difficult conversations directly by demonstrating - not just telling, that “it is okay to not be okay.” Too often, collegiate athletes are told about resources on campus, yet only a fraction of athletes use these resources regularly. Stanford athletes began asking “What good are resources if the stigma against mental health prevents you from admitting your struggles to your friends or teammates?” GameFACES shatters these stigmas by diving head-first into the real issues that affect student-athlete health and wellness.

In 2019, a survey of GameFACES suggested that over 70% of attendees had conversations about mental health with their teammates (and/or coaches) in the days following the event. By speaking openly in front of an audience, GameFACES speakers empower the community to speak up about their own struggles.

Mental Health Awareness Month

Why is GameFACES in May? GameFACES occurs every May because it is Mental Health Awareness Month. Student-athlete organizers purposefully chose the month of May to help celebrate and shed light on mental health and to augment already existing programming and resources.

Campus Partners

While DASH leads the planning and execution efforts for GameFACES, many offices on campus help make GameFACES possible. The GameFACES support team includes the following offices/people:

• Office of Inclusion, Belonging & Intergroup Communication (IBIC)
• SHARE Title IX & Title VI - Dr. Brianna Booth
• Toni Kokenis (Stanford Women’s Basketball, Class of 2014)
• Stanford Sport Psychology
• Stanford Athletics External Relations
• Videography, Communications, Social & Digital Media

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GameFACES is open to all members of the Stanford community.