Students burst into cheers as drag performers danced, talked and read to support suicide awareness during a “Five Nights at Freddy’s” themed drag performance held March 24 at Santa Rosa Junior College’s Santa Rosa campus’s Bertolini Student Center.
SRJC’s Rotaract Club, Vitae Lampada Club and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention hosted the event to raise money for the upcoming Out of the Darkness campus walk fundraiser. The campus walk will donate money raised to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Suicide is a pressing issue in the United States. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, it is the 11th leading cause of death in the U.S., and according to a 2024 study by the Trevor Project, LGBTQ+ youth reporting suicidal ideation grew from 41% to 47% in 2025.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” is a popular series of horror games that found a niche audience and player base within the LGBTQ+ community.
Drag performers at the event included Sophia Nguyen in a drag look inspired by Chica; Edgar Najar Flores in a drag look inspired by CottonTailVA; Shannon Ayres Aguilar in a drag look inspired by Springtrap; Niko Magnussen in a drag look inspired by Bonnie; and Diego Roman Hernandez in a drag look inspired by Golden Freddy. For many of these performers, this was their drag debut.
The performers chose to support mental health and spread glee by reading poetry aloud, talking about their interests, dancing and lip syncing. Many performances were interactive and encouraged attendee participation by inviting others to dance and handing out flowers.
“I feel like now, especially under this administration, we need to have as much queer joy as possible,” said Aguilar, 22, activity coordinator for the Rotaract Club and English major who was previously mentioned under their drag name, Springtrap.
Indeed, the joy in the room proved so palpable that the performers took notice of it.
“I feel like my favorite part is the energy in the room, the interaction part,” said Sophia Nguyen, 19, a member of the Rotaract Club and an environmental chemistry major.
Nguyen also said the environment allowed her to explore mental health in a way she couldn’t while growing up.
“I grew up in an Asian family, and we don’t really talk about suicide in our family,” she said, adding that she was working against false perceptions of mental health and dealing with it alone. “It was just something that I experienced myself growing up.”
President of the Rotaract Club and electrical engineering major Edgar Najar Flores, 20, said they came up with the idea of a FNAF-themed drag show when they heard about SRJC’s recent drag ball.
“I love to do community service work; I love to join the community. I love to bring people together, so being able to do a drag show just kind of felt right,” Flores said.
An estimated 65 people attended, most being students — some even choosing to skip class so as to not miss the opportunity to see their peers perform and raise awareness.
“I think it’s a great cause, and it’s really cool that they were able to combine such an enthralling performance with that. And being able to do it for such a charitable cause,” said Jack Omhold, 18.
Students were in agreement that this kind of event and fundraiser is very important, not only to make connections and spread joy, but also to raise money and awareness.
“I think there should be much more events like this. These kinds of events connect the community to events such as the Suicide Walk. Being up there, getting all of these students to come here and do all this fun stuff, gets us to be able to fund the more important stuff,” said urban planning major and coordinator of the upcoming suicide walk Roman Hernandez.
The Out of the Darkness campus walk fundraiser for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention will take place on April 11 at 10:15 a.m. in the Bertolini Quad on the Santa Rosa campus.
