Ball State University is once again turning to student mentors to help encourage their peers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and wear masks to stop the virus’s spread.

In a video posted to YouTube on Thursday, Ball State University Student Government Association (SGA) president Tina Nguyen and football player Brandon Martin encourage students to wear masks and get vaccinated.

Nguyen: “I choose to wear a face mask to continue to socialize with my friends in person.”

Martin: “I choose to get the vaccine to protect myself and be able to help out in my community.”

Ball State also used student mentors to model good behavior last year, when university president Geoffrey Mearns interviewed then-SGA president Connor Sanburn.  Vaccines for COVID had not yet been approved, so the interview focused on social distancing, sanitizing, wearing masks, and spending time with others outdoors or virtually instead of indoors.

Ball State’s COVID-19 Dashboard currently shows the number of fully vaccinated employees, but not students.  The school is highly encouraging the vaccine, but not requiring it for students or staff.  As of Wednesday, that dashboard recorded seven positive cases of COVID among students in the last 24 hours.  Thursday’s update included two more recent cases.  Since the semester began in late August, the total positive cases among students is 130.