SUNY Chancellor Malatras Launches “Mask Up or Pack Up” Campaign
to Promote Compliance with COVID-19 Safety Protocols
Join the call for Creative Video Submissions from SUNY students that urge and remind all students to act responsibly and vigilantly to contain the COVID-19 virus, and keep campuses safe and open!
On Sept. 14, State University of New York Chancellor Jim Malatras launched SUNY’s “Mask Up or Pack Up” campaign to promote universal compliance with evidence-based COVID-19 safety guidelines across SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities.
“’Mask Up or Pack Up’ gives our students a platform to send powerful, persuasive messages to their classmates that encourage them to rise to the challenge and comply with proven COVID-19 safety measures,” said Chancellor Malatras. “Over a few short weeks, I’ve met with hundreds of students across more than a dozen campuses, all of whom are acting responsibly so they can stay on campus and learn. This campaign will harness their talent, creativity, and frustration with the small fraction of students who jeopardize entire college communities. We need universal compliance and uncompromising vigilance from everyone to keep campuses open, and we are proud of students who are determined to speak directly to their peers to help amplify that message.”
Student video submissions should highlight the importance of mask-wearing, social distancing, avoiding large gatherings and parties, and complying with testing and tracing guidance delivered by colleges and local health departments. Once the videos are received, SUNY will incorporate them into the statewide “Mask Up or Pack Up” campaign. For more information on how to submit a video, click here.
A number of colleges and universities across the SUNY system have already taken swift, strong actions in response to small groups of students who are flaunting safety guidelines. Those actions include individual student suspensions, semester-long suspensions of athletics and Greek Life, indefinite suspensions of in-person dining and residence hall visitation, the scaling back of campus activities, and increased penalties for students who violate the guidelines. SUNY’s “Mask Up or Pack Up” campaign will seek to send strong messages to students who engage in this type of behavior.
SUNY recently launched a three-pronged strategy for combating COVID-19 on campuses that includes strict enforcement of safety protocols to minimize cases; routine, required surveillance testing to identify the presence of the virus, and transparent, case-count statistics through its new case tracker that promote data-driven decisions to contain the spread of the virus when it does appear.
Published: Tue, 15 Sep 2020 12:20:17 +0000 by d.gardner