The California State University System has received a donation of 50,000 masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) from manufacturers Magic Ice Cube and Imagen/SanGuard.
The PPE will be distributed among the CSU’s 21 Hispanic-Serving Institutions, which includes San Diego State. An HSI is a university with at least 25% of the undergraduate full-time enrollees being Hispanic and half of students being low-income.
The donation comes after a request by Governor Gavin Newsom for businesses to start producing PPE as the pandemic began. As lockdown orders started going into effect in March, the state experienced a shortage of masks for essential workers.
CSU alumna Virginia Madueño diverted the efforts of her company Imagen/SanGuard to begin creating more PPE for the California Department of Public Health, soon joining with Magic Ice Cube to manufacture the most equipment possible.
“Magic Ice Cube Founder Rudy Rong and I are both immigrants and we had the opportunity to earn a quality education in California, and thus know how important higher education is, and the value of continued learning given this unusual time with COVID-19,” Madueño said in a press release. “Our goal is to help provide yet another level of protection for some of the hardest-hit communities throughout California, served by the California State University and those campuses designated as HSIs.”
Rudy Rong is a Chinese immigrant and entrepreneur who began creating PPE in March.
“I was excited to help, given the situation,” Rong said in a press release.The extra equipment will be extremely beneficial for all CSUs, including SDSU, as it is currently believed the Fall 2021 semester will be in-person. Even as vaccines are distributed, masks will likely still be required on campus by the end of 2021.
