Our people

2019 PH-CHE Alum Elle MarkGabrielle 'Elle' Mark, a May 2019 graduate with a public health and community health education major, was crowned Miss Minnesota 2021 in June.  Besides preparing for the 100th Miss America competition in December, Mark will spend the upcoming year spreading the word about the Miss Minnesota scholarship program. She will also promote her social impact initiative, “The Campaign to Change Direction: Changing the Culture of Mental Health.” 

Mark was introduced to the Campaign to Change Direction while serving as Miss La Crosse /Oktoberfest and was drawn to their five habits to help prevent mental health crises.

“This appealed to me as a public health professional,” she says. “I’ve been advocating for the organization since.”  Mark is also working with the campaign’s national office to develop a health habits curriculum for students of all ages.

Despite what happens during the Miss America competition, Mark sees herself returning to school for a master’s degree in public health and epidemiology. She has earned nearly $20,000 in scholarships by competing in Miss America-sponsored events to help fund her dreams.

Study shows UWL, Viterbo students plan to get vaccinated

More than three-quarters of students attending La Crosse’s four-year colleges intend to roll up their sleeves and get a COVID-19 vaccine. 

Researchers from Gundersen Health System’s Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine, UW-La Crosse and Viterbo University found that 76% of students surveyed at UWL and Viterbo this winter plan to get vaccinated.  

The reasons: 81% think the vaccine will protect them, while 82% think the vaccine will protect others. A total of 78% believe the COVID-19 vaccine will be beneficial in getting things back to normal. 

“I think what surprised me in the study, if anything, was the percentage of students indicating they would get the vaccine when it became available to them,” says Professor Dan Duquette, chair of the UWL Health Education and Health Promotion Department and the study’s lead facilitator. “And one of the main reasons was to help things return to normal.”  

Of the roughly 350 students completing the survey between mid-February and early March, 66% reported they had already received the seasonal flu shot — heeding advice of health professionals to avert a double health crisis. 

Duquette says it was an all-hands-on-deck study for him and his students, along with Associate Professor Matthew Bersagel Braley of the Viterbo Ethics, Culture and Society Department, and Dr. Kim Lansing, Gundersen Health System. UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health WARM (Wisconsin Academy for Rural Medicine) students from Gundersen and undergraduate students from Viterbo also assisted.  

The research is timely for creating strategies to increase turnout for the vaccine once it’s available to college students, says Duquette. 

“Part of the follow-up messaging needs to point out that most college students intend to get vaccinated — that may inspire some fence-sitters to roll up their sleeves, too,” he says.  

Please see the full story: https://www.uwlax.edu/news/posts/a-vaccine-victory/?utm_source=Campus%20Connection%202021-04-12&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Campus%20Connection&ConnectionDate=2021-04-12