{"id":467522,"date":"2021-02-04T13:00:51","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T18:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=467522"},"modified":"2026-03-20T12:57:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T16:57:43","slug":"student-public-health-ambassadors-reinforce-pandemic-safety-467522","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/student-public-health-ambassadors-reinforce-pandemic-safety-467522\/","title":{"rendered":"Students serve as public health ambassadors to reinforce pandemic safety measures"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Peer advocates play a critical role in helping college students limit the spread of COVID-19 in campus spaces.<\/h2>\n<p>When COVID-19 hit the Houston community hard last summer, Sara Whittemore \u201923 began working at a retirement home that had suddenly become understaffed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI checked temperatures, sanitized public areas, and made sure residents wore their masks, to make sure everyone was safe,\u201d the health policy major says. \u201cI knew I wanted to do something similar when I got back on campus to help the people I care about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whittemore is one of 30 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\">University of Rochester<\/a> students who will be working with University Health Service (UHS) as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/uhs\/public-health-ambassadors\/\">public health ambassadors<\/a> this semester to raise awareness of safety precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The students include representatives from all four undergraduate classes, and domestic and international students. Whittemore was among those who volunteered at the Goergen Athletic Center this week as students returning to campus took COVID tests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCOVID has been so destructive in so many ways,\u201d she says. \u201cIf a small group of us can assist in making the campus a safe and healthy environment, count me in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zoe Black, program assistant at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/uhs\">UHS<\/a>, says the student ambassadors will have several responsibilities this semester, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Attending monthly meetings with UHS leaders to discuss concerns on campus. These concerns will be submitted to the University\u2019s COVID-19 committee.<\/li>\n<li>Encouraging fellow students to follow guidelines to keep the community safe, such as wearing masks, keeping six feet away from others when possible, and washing hands.<\/li>\n<li>Passing out hand sanitizer and masks.<\/li>\n<li>Volunteering at the University\u2019s flu vaccine and COVID testing clinics.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_467582\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-467582\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-467582\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/2021_health-ambassador_Whittemore_729.jpg\" alt=\"student health ambassador checks students in for COVID-19 testing clinic\" width=\"1000\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/2021_health-ambassador_Whittemore_729.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/2021_health-ambassador_Whittemore_729-630x378.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/2021_health-ambassador_Whittemore_729-193x117.jpg 193w, https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/2021_health-ambassador_Whittemore_729-768x461.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-467582\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of the 30 student volunteers, Whittemore and other health ambassadors are helping raise awareness about safety precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic. (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Amy McDonald, associate director for health promotion at UHS, says the ambassadors will play a vital role in communicating the importance of getting a COVID-19 vaccination when it becomes available, whether that is on campus or elsewhere.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Students take lead in Public Health Ambassador program<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Lauren Allende \u201921 is a public health policy major from Orlando, Florida. She was looking for opportunities to help UHS with its COVID response and was asked to help form the Public Health Ambassador program. She\u2019s one of three ambassador leaders, along with Sylvia Lin \u201920 (T5) and Yuan Shang \u201921.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough it formed because of COVID, I think it\u2019s an extremely valuable program even without a pandemic affecting our campus,\u201d Allende says. \u201cIt\u2019s so important that students feel they can turn to other students for information or any resources they may need at any time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lin, a biology major from Kunming, China, hopes to improve on the fall semester experience by holding monthly meetings with school officials and by launching more health promotion projects geared toward COVID-19 safety.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ambassadors serve as the communication link between students, UHS leadership, and the CURT (Coronavirus University Response Team), so the policymakers can incorporate feedback to provide students with better service, regulation, and the reassurance of a safe campus,\u201d Lin says.<\/p>\n<p>Ethan Hunt \u201923, a biomedical engineering major from Syracuse, also wanted to help his fellow classmates create a safe environment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the goal of this semester is to make sure people realize we\u2019re all becoming more condensed by returning to campus, so we need to realize that actions have consequences,\u201d Hunt says. \u201cWe need students to carry over what they did in the first semester, since the (COVID) results were pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ian Poe \u201924, a neuroscience major from Bethesda, Maryland, signed up to be a public health ambassador to make sure students follow social distancing regulations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to encourage them to do this through social media, reminders on bulletin boards, chalk drawings on the ground, and person to person feedback,\u201d Poe says. \u201cIt\u2019s vital to having a safe school.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rochester students volunteer to serve as public health ambassadors to help raise awareness among their peers about campus precautions and procedures to help limit the spread of COVID-19.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":672,"featured_media":467572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[37592,41822,22292],"class_list":["post-467522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-covid-19","tag-undergraduate-program-in-public-health","tag-university-health-service"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Students serve as public health ambassadors to reinforce pandemic safety measures<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Peer advocates in the role of public health ambassadors help college students limit the spread of COVID-19 in campus spaces.\" \/>\n<meta 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