A Wayne State University School of Medicine faculty member plays a key role in a video that was distributed to the more than 160,000 members of the nation’s second-oldest collegiate historically Black Greek letter fraternity to promote proper masking and social distancing procedures for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine Eric Ayers, M.D., FAAP, FACP, demonstrates the three W’s of pandemic protection – wearing a mask, washing hands and the width of social distancing – in a video produced by and for the members of Kappa Alpha Psi.
“I was more than happy to participate in disseminating this important message to my brothers,” said Dr. Ayers, who has dual appointments in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. He is section chief for Internal Medicine and Pediatrics for the Division of General Medicine, program director of the Combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency Program and co-director of Transition Medicine. “We have to continue spreading the word if we have any chance of tamping down this virus and returning to some semblance of normal.”
The video was timed for distribution before the Fourth of July holiday and features Dr. Ayers demonstration the proper way to wear several types of masks, as well as stressing the vital importance of hand washing and keeping at least six feet from others during gatherings.
While a historically Black fraternity, since its founding in 1911 at Indiana University, the organization has never limited membership based on color, creed or national origin. The fraternity has 721 undergraduate and alumni chapters in every state, and international chapters in the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, Japan, the United States Virgin Islands, Nigeria, South Africa and the Bahamas. Members include Ralph Abernathy, Wilt Chamberlin, Benjamin Jealous, Oscar Robertson, Cedric the Entertainer, Arthur Ashe, Mike Tomlin, Gayle Sayers, John Singleton, Tom Bradley, Bob Johnson, John Conyers, Alcee Hastings, Bill Russell, Tavis Smiley, Marvin Sapp and Colin Kaepernick.