From a video with mask-wearing tips to “Smile with Your Eyes” selfies, Huskies at Michigan Tech show that they take safety seriously and want fellow students to do the same.
The grassroots effort to reach out to fellow students — along with faculty, staff, and the community — originated with members of the Michigan Technological University Student Expectations and Behavior task force (a serious name for a group whose video on how to wear a face covering correctly includes a hedgehog hammock and a happy dog).
Students working on the campaign are all involved in diverse, multiple activities ranging from student coaching and mentoring to conducting research and participating in student organizations.
“I am a part of this group so that the Greek community, and the larger Tech community, stays healthy and adjusts quickly to the new normal,” said Nick Des Biens, a computer science major serving as Michigan Tech’s Interfraternity Council president. “The faculty and staff have done their part — now it falls to the student body to make the right choices.”
Larkin Hooker-Moericke, a chemical engineering major and Undergraduate Student Government (USG) president, took the lead on the masks video. She also created a process for students to offer up their own ideas and sign up to produce or participate in creating the social media content.
“USG was happy to participate to help create a campus culture of willingly following health and safety guidelines before returning to campus,” said Hooker-Moericke. “We want to show fellow students that, yes, we will be wearing masks correctly and, yes, everyone else should as well!”
Electrical engineering major Molly Baerman, who among other leadership roles is an orientation training coordinator for MTU’s Waino Wahtera Center for Student Success, took charge of producing the first video, which asks the question, “Who do you wear your mask for?”
“By creating ‘Made by Huskies, For Huskies’ videos and social media content, I hope to share with the Michigan Tech community the importance of doing your part. The pandemic’s impact is much bigger than one individual — that means that the response/solution is going to be, too,” Baerman said.
Electrical engineering major Anna Browne, a senior resident advisor, spearheaded the Smile With Your Eyes campaign. Shared by numerous social media accounts around campus, it focuses on ways people can transmit feelings of friendliness, inclusion and happiness even when mouths and noses need to be covered to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“We wanted to give students the opportunity to communicate with new and returning students in a way that’s authentic and effective,” said Laura Bulleit, associate dean of students, who moderates the group. “The students participating in this project are all leaders in their respective areas. They were chosen because we know that they are recognized across campus, are well-respected by their peers, and are not afraid to speak their minds. They wouldn’t hesitate to tell us if an idea was lame or wouldn’t resonate with the students.”
The group chose the hashtag #MaskUPHuskies to pull their campaign together. Search for it across social media to like, share and participate.
Future social media posts will showcase other proactive measures on campus and in the community, from habitual hand sanitizer use to encouraging all students to get tested through the program Michigan Tech has developed with Upper Great Lakes Health.
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