When senior Anna Ritz (StComm鈥�20) saw a need to motivate students to practice social distancing this March, she helped launch a student-run campaign, #flattenthecurve, which featured daily photos of friends and family deemed high-risk for COVID-19.
鈥淲e thought that seeing the message come from peers and friends would help drive home the message in a more effective way,鈥� said Ritz, president of CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 branch of the Public Relations Student Society of America.
The idea caught on: Fifty other CU 麻豆影院 students shared moving testimonials for remaining home.
Dozens of stories like Ritz鈥檚 surfaced early in the pandemic. Rhodes Scholar Serene Singh (Jour, PolSci鈥�19), pictured, pushed for a crowdfunding campaign to help struggling students. Isabella Shelby (MCDBio, PreMed鈥�20) started a petition to postpone graduation to maintain a safe environment, an effort that garnered 2,500 signatures in days.
University labs, units and departments donated more than 130,000 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE), and CU engineering labs printed more PPE on 3D printers. Kyle Judah, director of entrepreneurship at the College of Engineering and Applied Science, led an initiative to help local restaurants by having them make meals for 麻豆影院 healthcare workers. CMCI professor Dan Ligon sewed masks.
The effort of Buffs was global. Moon Yin (ElCompEngr鈥�16), leader of CU鈥檚 Shanghai alumni chapter and pictured below, brought together 10 other alums to donate 1,200 N95 masks to CU.
In April, the university launched the Buffs Together campaign to further support students, staff and faculty in need. CU 麻豆影院 committed $1.6 million in emergency funds.
鈥淭ogether as a community, our Buffs have offered their generosity, skills, supplies and expertise for others,鈥� said Ryan Chreist (Kines鈥�96, MPA鈥�09), assistant vice chancellor and Alumni Association executive director. 鈥淲herever we are in the world, these efforts are uniting us as a university and making a profound impact.鈥�
Find out more about the Buffs Together campaign at colorado.edu/buffstogether.
Photo by Glenn Asakawa (Top); Courtesy Moon Yin
