Every Tuesday for the better part of the past two months, volunteer students, faculty and staff have worn bright green T-shirts bearing the slogan "Talk to Me" around the University of Pittsburgh campus and hoped depressed students -- an estimated one in four experiences some depression by age 24 -- would do just that.

The 170 or so volunteers, trained by CONTACT Pittsburgh, also passed out buttons, pens and literature listing the symptoms of depression and the phone numbers of available resources, both on campus and off. There also was an art show at the student union of "the faces of depression"; messages on the electronic matrix board; and an ad campaign in The Pitt News, the student newspaper.

The "Talk to Me" campaign was the result of a unique coming together of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic; various departments within the university Division of Student Affairs; Life Solutions, the employee assistance program; the campus volunteers; and, in addition to CONTACT Pittsburgh, community resources LEAD (Leading Education and Awareness for Depression) Pittsburgh and the re:solve Crisis Network.

Designed to end with the Thanksgiving holiday break, the campaign now appears headed for longer life.

CONTACT Pittsburgh is going to train athletic department personnel and campus police so they too can recognize and try to steer depressed students to help. And the planning committee of "Talk to Me" will meet to outline further action.

"The Talk to Me campaign definitely brought more attention to the issue of depression on our campus," said Kenyon Bonner, associate dean of student affairs and director of student life. "It was important to have more faculty, staff, and especially students trained to [help] people who are struggling ...

"We plan to reconvene the campaign committee after the holiday break and discuss how we might extend our efforts in the future," Mr. Bonner added. "The whole campaign is about helping people and making sure people know how to access the many campus and community resources available to them, so this will be an ongoing effort."

"Talk to Me" was born of WPIC's tradition of doing a major awareness project each October for National Affective Disorders Month, said Denise Macerelli, senior director, community and government relations for WPIC.

One year, for example, Western Psychiatric brought actress Patty Duke to Pittsburgh to talk about bipolar disorder, said Ms. Macerelli, who convenes the group that picks the project. Another year it used community libraries to circulate bookmarks containing information about depression.

"This year we wanted to do something focused on college-age youth," she said. "[The rate of depression is] staggering. A recent study noted that suicide is the second-leading cause of death in college-age kids, which is huge."

The committee then met with LEAD, with which the hospital has an ongoing relationship, and asked if it wanted to do something together. With the assistance of LEAD board vice chairwoman Dr. Nikki Nordenberg, wife of university Chancellor Mark Nordenberg, "we were able to pool interest from Pitt very quickly," Ms. Macerelli said.

"What also came together was student leadership through university peer educations, resident assistants (R.A.s) and student health center workers. They really embraced us."

In fact, she added, "the students really designed how this all works."

Susan Balthaser, 21, a senior from Hamburg, Berks County, is one of two R.A.s who represented Residence Life on the planning committee and said she was the student who came up with the idea for the "Talk to Me" campaign.

"No troubled students sought me out," Ms. Balthaser said in an e-mail exchange, adding she knew of another R.A. who did have an encounter with a depressed student.

Still, she added, "the program did create a large amount of buzz on campus. The residents on my floor became interested in the program and some even volunteered to join.

"It should continue, because depression is a huge issue on college campuses. With some reworking, I think the program could go more global."

James Cox, director of the university's counseling center, said there was no way to determine if the campaign brought more students to its door "because October is our busiest month anyway."