Published: June 1, 2020

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 蜜桃传媒破解版下载 branch of the Public Relations Student Society of America.

Serene SinghThe idea caught on: Fifty other 蜜桃传媒破解版下载 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 Boulder healthcare workers. CMCI professor Dan Ligon sewed masks.

Moon YinThe 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. 蜜桃传媒破解版下载 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