It was New Year’s Eve, 1995. Andrea and Mike Cooper had just come home from a New Year’s party and found their only daughter dead in their living room.Kristin had committed suicide because she was depressed after a co-worker raped her, her father, Mike Cooper, said.

Andrea Cooper, Kristen’s mother and Delta Delta Delta alumna, who has made it her mission to travel and inform students about rape, depression and suicide will be speaking on TCU’s campus for the third time Sunday at noon in Ed Landreth Hall Auditorium.

Her previous visits were in 2000 and 2003 after Delta Delta Delta and Alpha Chi Omega’s invitation, Andrea Cooper said.

Her 20-year-old daughter, Kristin, was a member of Alpha Chi Omega and a sophomore at Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan.

“We didn’t know about the rape until we read it in her journal after her death,” Mike Cooper said.

Andrea Cooper said it was a surprise to her that her daughter had committed suicide.

“She was sad before Christmas break,” Andrea Cooper said. “But when she came home, she was happy so I wasn’t worried.”

She explained that often people who are depressed get happier toward the end, because they have found a way out.

Mike Cooper said the rapist was never convicted because she never pressed charges and a journal entry cannot account for proof.

“It was a waste of herself,” he said.

However, “Kristin’s Story: a Story of Acquaintance Rape, Depression and Suicide,” is being told on campuses all over the nation.

It was three years after Kristin’s death when Andrea Cooper started to travel around the nation to inform college students on issues of rape and depression.

“I never ever dreamed I would travel and talk,” Andrea Cooper said.

She said the reason she travels year-round is because she feels her daughter would still be alive if she had gotten help.

“It is so important for people to go and get counseling if they need it,” Andrea Cooper said.

Mike Cooper said last year his wife went to about 35 to 40 schools. He said he doesn’t travel with his wife all the time.

“I try not to go in the South in the summer, north in the winter, but I’ll always go to California,” Mike Cooper said.

The couple, however, does not spend more than a week apart from each other, Mike Cooper said.

Lisa Kollenberg, senior Tri-Delt member, said she heard about Andrea Cooper in her sorority’s spring leadership convention.

“I contacted her last spring to have her come to TCU,” Kollenberg said.

Although two sororities are hosting the event, Hannah Munsch, Panhellenic president, said the event is open for everyone.

Andrea Cooper also said the message is important for everyone to hear.

According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, one in six American women are victims of sexual assault and 59 percent of all rapes are unreported to the police.

“I’ve heard it’s a compelling presentation,” Munsch said “I’m excited to see it.”

Kollenberg said rape is an issue that should be discussed more.

Josh Schutts, fraternity and sorority life coordinator and Interfraternity Council adviser, said in an e-mail the message Cooper presents is more than just how the individual is affected.

“Guys have sisters, mothers, girlfriends or acquaintances who could potentially become a victim of sexual assault or rape.” Schutts said. “It’s important that we widen our view on its effects beyond just the immediate.