Sacramento State’s elaborate plans to assist in the 2020 Census collapsed under the weight of coronavirus concerns that forced the University to cancel campus gatherings and send students, faculty and staff home indefinitely.
But the count goes on, with Sac State’s census leaders pivoting to online efforts to ensure that as many people as possible participate in the critical project.
“Across California and the country, the census is more important than ever,” said Viridiana Diaz, Assistant Vice President for Strategic Diversity Initiatives at Sac State. “The last thing we need is for people to be under-counted. The need for resources is going to be greater than ever before” because of the toll that the virus continues to take on society and the economy.”
For months before the COVID-19 outbreak, Sac State’s 2020 Census Collaboration Team had been coordinating efforts to ensure a successful count. Planned was a campus-wide event touting the importance of census participation, Census 101 workshops to give members of the campus community tools for achieving an accurate count, and the much-anticipated appearance of civil rights icon Dolores Huerta to deliver a lecture about the census and its impact.
“We had a great calendar of events and activities to engage the entire population,” said Diaz. “All of them were canceled. As a result, we had to get very creative about how to deliver our message and accomplish our goals.”
The Collaboration Team has launched several online Social Media Challenges, including an art contest, a challenge to student organizations and clubs to boost the census count, and virtual workshops. Sac State also has assembled “census ambassadors” who are reaching out to members of campus populations that have traditionally been difficult to count, including the LBGTQ community, homeless students and undocumented people.
Despite the dramatic change in plans, enthusiasm for the census project remains high, said Noel Mora, Sac State’s Serna Center Coordinator and a member of the collaboration team.
“Our students no longer are in front of our face-to-face, but they are still there,” Mora said. “They are ready to make sure that members of their communities are counted. The engagement hasn’t stopped.”
For more information about census efforts or to get involved, go to the Sac State Student Affairs website.
By Luis, Kischmischian, Division Lead Marketing & Communications