This is an excerpt from an opinion piece published in the Merced Sun-Star on Aug. 18. Please click here to read the entire article.
Regardless of how complex our own situations are, we cannot think of our institutions as islands but as profoundly intertwined with our community. We have families here. We eat here, we shop here, and we enjoy recreation and entertainment here. As individuals, we are wearing masks and washing our hands and keeping our distance like everyone else. However, as leaders in education in Merced County, this is simply not enough.
We are all part of the same Merced community, and as major institutions, we at UC Merced and Merced College take our role in the community seriously. And while we must protect our own campuses — and ourselves and our families — we also believe we have an obligation to work together to help our city and our region alleviate this public health crisis.
This is why we are proud to be launching the Do Your Part campaign, a joint effort between UC Merced and Merced College to help inform our community about safe and healthy practices. We will do this through social media and web marketing, as well as signs posted at businesses around Merced.
