Becoming a health promoting campus: Facilitating student, staff, and faculty success while contributing to the public good

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2020, The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) became the first university in the United States to formally adopt the Okanagan Charter and become an internationally recognized Health Promoting University or College. Since then, 15 more institutions have formally adopted the charter, and the US Health Promoting Campus Network (USHPCN) has grown to 165 campuses participating. Delegates from each campus attend monthly virtual meetings to learn about the Okanagan Charter and how others are using it to align multiple university goals and initiatives.