In early 2024, a health campaign was in place as part of a student and staff collaboration designed to provide updated COVID-19 information and raise awareness of the continued impacts of COVID-19.
Initiated by the Disabled Students Union (DSU) and launched in partnership with the Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC), the Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center and UCLA Administration, the campaign involved updating UCLA’s COVID-19 website, expanding mask distribution sites across the UCLA campus community, and updating COVID-19 signage throughout campus to reflect the latest recommendations from public health authorities.
“It was really a focus on community care and protecting each other,” said Gwendolyn Hill, who graduated in June and initiated efforts to launch the new campaign in her role as DSU coordinator. Part of this included updating signage to reflect what public health experts had come to learn in terms of COVID-19 and the long-term effects the virus has on some individuals, including Hill who acquired long COVID after her third infection in June 2023.
“As somebody who is disabled by long COVID, that was a part that was really important to me —to bring awareness and highlighting the realities of long COVID.”
This collaboration also resulted in N95, KN95, KF94 and medical-grade surgical masks being made available at more than 25 front desk sites for students, staff and faculty. Medical-grade surgical mask dispensers were also added next to five COVID-19 test kit vending machines across campus.
“This was certainly a team effort and we were happy to support our student leaders on this campaign,” said Michelle Sityar, administrative chief of staff, former co-chair of the UCLA Infectious Diseases Management Team (IDMT) and an alumnus of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Sityar extends a special thanks to DSU and Ashe for their health advocacy, and UCLA’s building coordinators who helped deploy the new COVID-19 signage in campus buildings.
