In Manny’s memory, we have set a goal to raise $35,000 to support the foundation’s mission: to bring light to those facing the silent battles of mental health. Manny’s Band is dedicated to breaking the stigma, fostering open conversation, and providing resources for those who are struggling — because no one should have to face the darkness alone.

Alpha Epsilon Pi at the University of Colorado Boulder believes in the power of community, remembrance, and action.

In honor of our late brother Manny, we are launching a $35,000 fundraising campaign to support Manny’s Band — a foundation dedicated to mental health awareness, suicide prevention, and destigmatizing mental illness.

Mental health is a silent crisis affecting students across campuses nationwide. As brothers, friends, and advocates, we carry the responsibility to support one another and ensure that no one feels alone in their struggle.

Manny’s Band represents more than a tribute — it’s a movement to transform grief into purpose and to create lasting impact for those battling the darkness of mental illness.

As the Jewish fraternity committed to repairing the world (tikkun olam), AEPi stands for compassion, leadership, and resilience. By supporting Manny’s Band, we turn loss into leadership and heartbreak into healing.

Your contribution helps fund programming, outreach, and resources that empower students, educate peers, and save lives.

This campaign isn’t just about raising money — it’s about raising awareness, raising hope, and raising each other up.Together, we can create a culture where vulnerability is met with support, not stigma.

About the AEPi Campaign

A Message from the Father, Ben Pargman

A Message from Noah Agay

President, Alpha Epsilon Pi – University of Colorado Boulder

To all the distinguished families, alumni, and brothers of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity at CU Boulder,

There is a silent crisis happening on college campuses and in communities across the country. It is a crisis that statistics can’t fully capture, and one that far too many people don’t recognize until it’s too late.

This crisis is something that rocked our chapter to its core on December 4th, 2024, when we lost our brother, Manny Pargman, to suicide. It was the worst news imaginable, and for me, and many of us, it was the first time we had to confront the reality that a brother of ours had died by suicide.

The first feelings that crossed my mind were disbelief and shock, which eventually settled into sadness and anger. How could this happen? What could I have done to help prevent this tragedy? All over campus, throughout Atlanta, and all over the world, anyone who had ever interacted with Manny was thinking the same thing: How can we be better so that something like this will never happen again?

This question is what motivates our chapter to support the Manny’s Band Foundation. Founded by Manny’s family and friends, this foundation builds on our brother’s legacy by attacking the root of the cause that led Manny down the path of darkness. We are here to bring advocacy and honor our brother’s legacy by working to change the very narrative that caused Manny to die by suicide. This is not a distant issue for us; this is deeply personal.

Everyone has seen the awareness campaigns. We have all been told to “check on your friends.” But awareness is not enough when the message is not clear. The hardest truth to face is that the traditional prevention methods fail to connect with young people in the fast-paced, nonstop, and difficult world that they actually live in. They fail to turn the abstract concept of “mental health awareness” into a real conversation that young men and women are willing to have. Especially on college campuses, mental health is too often shoved to the background, ignored, and treated as a stigma—especially among young men. A genuine platform to speak openly and honestly is rarely provided, which allows this sickness to grow in the shadows and lets good people think, '“This is not my problem.”

Manny’s Band was created to shatter that paradigm—and it is on a mission to do something radically different. Instead of top-down lectures from adults, Manny’s Band is empowering teens and young adults to spread the message themselves through the power of community, music, and creative expression. We are creating a culture where the risk of suicide is not, and will never be, “not my problem.”

By supporting our fundraiser and Manny’s Band, you are doing more than donating to a cause. You are investing in a new, vital approach to suicide prevention. You are helping fund content and lessons created by young people, for young people, ensuring that no more families, brotherhoods, or communities must experience this kind of loss.

This fundraiser and our partnership with Manny’s Band are our promise and commitment to him—and to every member of our community—that his memory will be honored with action. Together we can help Manny's Band save lives, building a world where no one has to suffer in silence.

Thank you for your support.

A Message from Slaven Nabokov

Vice President of AEPi at University of Colorado Boulder

To all the distinguished families, alums, and brothers of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity at CU Boulder,

As college students, many of us put the concept of mental health aside. We are not taught the true significance that mental health has on ourselves and on our peers. Many times, we put it away and forget about it. It is incredibly important to check on friends, loved ones, and yourself. We must look after the people we love, and don't let the concept of mental health drift away in our society. Being in this fraternity has taught me many valuable lessons, the most valuable being that I am my brother's keeper. Being your brother's keeper means checking in on them, protecting them, and keeping them accountable physically and emotionally. Many times, we look away from that and get distracted from the crucial part of life, and it's time to break through that and make sure everyone is there, a brother's keeper.

On December 4th, 2024, we tragically lost our brother Manny Pargman to suicide. While I never had the opportunity to meet him, from the day I stepped into this fraternity, I could truly feel the brothers of this chapter living through his legacy. Many brothers shared with me the great moments they had with Manny what light he truly brought to this world. I was honored last year to step in as Co-Phintherapy chair to continue showing people the light and impact Manny had on this chapter and family here in Boulder. Now, as Vice President, I hope to continue sharing Manny's stories and bringing light to his beautiful life.

I am proud to continue raising awareness and honoring Manny's life by supporting the Chi Upsilon chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi and the Manny's Band Foundation, Inc, founded by Manny’s family. This Atlanta-based nonprofit is working to create a paradigm shift in suicide prevention. Their mission is bold but necessary, in route to dramatically reduce teen suicides by using the power of music, the arts, and creative content to reach young people where they are. Through the media they consume, in the music they listen to, and in the voices of their peers.

Mental health is often overlooked and hard to talk about, especially as young college students like us. Manny’s Band is working to change that by helping parents, families, and friends find new ways to speak openly about suicide and the risks that too many teens and young adults quietly face alone.

By supporting this foundation, we hope to bring light to the lack of knowledge about mental health and help teach people our age that it is very important to be knowledgeable about the signs of struggle to help prevent suicide and other mental health crises. We want to send a message to Boulder to fade away the stigmas that run with mental health.

I will be forever thankful to honor Manny's life, his story, and what a true inspiration he is to many people. This foundation and our partnerships with Manny's band are a promise and commitment we, here at the Chi Upsilon chapter of AEPi Boulder, will keep to continue raising awareness, help those who suffer in silence, and build knowledge among young men and women about mental health.

Join the Movement

Every dollar raised brings us closer to creating change — on our campus, in our communities, and across the nation.

Support our goal of raising $35,000 for Manny’s Band and help us ensure that no one has to face the darkness alone.