© 2024 WVIK
Listen at 90.3 FM and 98.3 FM in the Quad Cities, 95.9 FM in Dubuque, or on the WVIK app!
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Community

WIU Launches #Maskup Campaign

WIU Social Media Lab

To help make Western Illinois University safe for the fall semester, students in the Department of Communications have launched a social media campaign. Their goal is to normalize wearing masks, so that when students return for classes, they'll feel more comfortable wearing them. 

Davenport native Josh Brennan is a senior communication major working on the campaign. He says for him, it's personal. His three-year-old son has a chronic medical condition that puts him at greater risk for COVID-19. 

"I'm not able to work because the job I had prior is not something I can do safely enough that our son's doctors feel comfortable," Brennan said. "And so, if I can do something from here to help, then, you know, I want to be a part of that because I don't want to be trapped in my house any longer than I already have, and I don't want my son and my family to be at continued risk." 

Brennan helps run the lab's Twitter account, which has promoted hastags like #maskupmacomb and #maskupqc. He says that humor is an especially effective tool, and he intends to use it to make both the Macob and Quad City campuses safer.

Marianna Bacallao is WVIK Quad Cities NPR's 2020-2021 Fellowship Host/Reporter. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Mercer University's Center for Collaborative Journalism and served as Editor-in-Chief for the student newspaper, The Cluster.
Related Content