The Colorado School of Public Health keeps the memory of Syd Staggs鈥� advocacy and inclusion alive with a namesake award. Liz Baylon Trejo, 鈥�22, the inaugural recipient of the Syd Staggs Advocacy Award, received the distinction at the school鈥檚 annual awards banquet last spring.
鈥淏efore 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鈥檛 believe what an honor it was to be nominated and chosen for this award,鈥� said Baylon Trejo, a first-year Master鈥檚 in Public Health (MPH) student in the鈥疌ommunity Health Education program鈥痑t UNC.
Staggs鈥檚 parents and award overseers, Kelley and Mark Staggs, presented Baylon Trejo with the award.
鈥淚 actually got to meet Syd鈥檚 family at the award ceremony, which made it that much more special,鈥� said Baylon Trejo. 鈥淭hey 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.鈥�
Before their passing,鈥疭yd Staggs鈥痺as 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.
The ColoradoSPH community came together to honor Staggs and their work. With the help and generous support of Staggs鈥檚 parents, they established an advocacy award in Staggs鈥檚 name to recognize a current student who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to advocacy for underserved and disadvantaged populations in public health.
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