Across the nation, a trend of pouring a bucket of ice-cold water over people’s heads has gone viral on Instagram. For context, the “Ice Bucket Challenge” originated over a decade ago in 2014 and was a global phenomenon capturing everyone — students, teachers and even celebrities — and prompted them to dump ice water over their heads. Altogether, the movement raised $115 million in funds as well as awareness for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease. 

Today, in 2025, the ice bucket challenge has been revived by the University of South Carolina students’ Mental Illness Needs Discussion (MIND) Club to encourage self-care, support suicide prevention, destigmatize mental health and promote open conversations. Any donations go toward the national non-profit organization Active Minds. Like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the #SpeakyourMIND campaign took off. 

“I believe in the core concept of speaking your mind in order to protect your mental health. However, many people just do the challenge. They don’t really think about what the challenge is actually for,” sophomore William Tanudyaya said.

Over the past two weeks, West students across all grade levels have participated. The rules are simple: after being nominated, the person records a video nominating two to five people and then has ice water dumped over their head. Upload the video to social media using #SpeakyourMIND and tag @uscmind. Lastly, if you can, donate.

“I had three people line up behind me to throw a bucket of water. It was quite cold, and then the third one dumped it on me after. It was shocking,” junior Kendra Pinkard said.

The #SpeakyourMIND challenge has also garnered controversy across social media, with those choosing to opt out despite being nominated. Some simply don’t find it entertaining, while others criticize the performance activism aspect.

“I think it is performance activism to an extent. Some people do it for the wrong reasons and are just doing it because they feel pressured to,” senior Gianna Lionelli said. “But, I think it’s very creative and fun that the organization came up [with] reusing the idea of the ice bucket challenge to get people more aware of it. It’s important to make sure that if you are doing the challenge, that you’re actually donating to the organization that’s supporting it.”

At the end of the day, this fun challenge is a part of a greater Mental Health movement that has undeniably gained attention. In fact, as of April 28, Active Minds has raised $378,443. As this “trend” starts to fade, keep mental health a part of the discussion through to the month of May, which is National Mental Health Awareness Month.

“It’s good that everyone’s doing this, because it shows people who struggle with mental health that there are people there to support them, and they’re not alone. People do care; no one forgets about mental health,” freshman Grace Wright said.