The Colorado School of Public Health keeps the memory of Syd Staggs’ advocacy and inclusion alive with namesake award. Liz Baylon Trejo, the inaugural recipient of the Syd Staggs Advocacy Award, received the award at the school’s annual awards banquet in May.
Before their passing, Syd Staggs was a tireless public health advocate, leader, friend, and ColoradoSPH graduate dedicated to helping other LGBTQ+ individuals gain the same sense of acceptance and affirmation that they had. As the ColoradoSPH community came together to honor Staggs and their work, with the help and generous support of Staggs’s parents, an advocacy award in Staggs’s name was established to recognize a current ColoradoSPH student who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to advocacy for underserved and disadvantaged populations in public health. This dedication can be demonstrated through a significant project or achievement focusing on improving the health and well-being of these populations, or through a record of above-and-beyond effort and service towards this advocacy work.
Liz Baylon Trejo, a first-year Masters in Public Health (MPH) student in the Community Health Education program at the University of Northern Colorado, was nominated and selected as the first recipient of the Syd Staggs Advocacy Award. One of Baylon Trejo’s nominators describes her as “exemplifying what it means to be a public health advocate, putting her heart and soul into her community on top of what it takes to excel in her MPH coursework”. Baylon Trejo’s advocacy for public health began as an undergraduate student worker in the César Chávez Cultural Center and Undocumented Student Services at UNC before continuing her work there through a Graduate Assistantship.
“I'm an Events and Program Specialist through the Center,” Baylon Trejo said. “Essentially, what I do is help plan and execute events for the well-being of students in general, with a focus on Latinx and undocumented students. A lot of it is making sure we create programs that holistically address student well-being in general and tap into different areas that students have shown interest in.”
Additionally, Baylon Trejo plays a fundamental role in coordinating the DREAMer Engagement Program, which serves first-year DACA students through mentoring, community events, support and resources, and connections to faculty and staff. She has also worked as a Spanish Community Navigator, facilitated testing for ESL classes, and participated in numerous other community engagement activities.
Staggs’s parents and award overseers, Kelley and Mark Staggs, presented Baylon Trejo with the award.
“Before the banquet, I learned more about Syd and the work they had done, along with just being an incredible human being in general, and couldn’t believe what an honor it was to be nominated and chosen for this award,” Baylon Trejo said. “I actually got to meet Syd’s family at the award ceremony, which made it that much more special. They mentioned that they were part of the selection committee for this specific award and they said if Syd had read my nomination, they would have chosen me as well. I almost started crying right there, there was so much emotion with meeting them and talking about Syd.”
According to Baylon Trejo’s nominators, she never hesitates to share her voice and advocate loudly for immigrants, especially those without documentation. While Baylon Trejo isn’t certain what the future holds for her, she knows she wants to continue focusing on immigrant and undocumented populations throughout her time at ColoradoSPH and beyond.
“I don't know to what capacity or how I want it to look, but I definitely love working with the communities themselves, rather than being on the outskirts,” Baylon Trejo said. “I envision myself working face-to-face, being very hands-on in the communities. I'm excited to see what that looks like in the future, and explore opportunities that are available.”