Dec. 1 marked World AIDS Day and members of the Student Global AIDS Campaign planned a variety of events to mark the day.
The day included free HIV testing and a World AIDS Day Vigil, and it culminated in a World AIDS Day ’80s Dance Party. The party took place Friday night in the Walnut Room of the Talley Student Center. Members of the SGAC said the day was a great way to celebrate the amount of progress that had been made in fighting the disease. They said it is also a good opportunity to think about what still has to be done.
“The progress so far is excellent,” Jesse Howington, a junior in environmental sciences and co-president of SGAC, said. “It has been transferred from a death sentence to a livable disease, but there is still a lot of progress left to be made.”
Howington said a lot of the progress that needs to be made has to do with the way HIV-positive people are viewed in the community.
“The stigma that [HIV-positive] people have is unreal — they are almost treated like lepers,” she said.
Howington said the ’80s theme for the party was significant because of the significance of that decade in AIDS history.
“When AIDS was first diagnosed, it was in June 1981,” she said. “This is the 25th anniversary of the virus, and we are celebrating 25 years of progress.”
Amy Schuver, a senior in animal science who attended the party, said the events of the day were particularly important on a college campus because the disease tended to affect young people most often.
“It’s important to educate the community because so many new cases of HIV are in people under 24,” Schuver said. “If people don’t pay attention to World AIDS day, then it’s like ignoring their own fears.”
According to Carolyn Steele, a junior in communication and co-president of SGAC, the day was also an opportunity to educate members of the University community about the seriousness of the disease.
“Everyone knows about HIV. It’s been around so long that they’ve at least heard of it, but not everyone seems to understand how bad it’s become,” Steele said. “It’s one of the top reasons for death in the world now.”
Steele said some people may think the disease does not concern them because they don’t fit in to the groups normally associated with the disease. She said the day was a chance to change this misconception.
“I think that World AIDS Day is so important because it raises awareness to students and reminds them that it’s not just an African thing or a homosexual thing; it’s an everybody thing,” Steele said.
Howington also said the day was important for HIV-positive individuals in the N.C. State community, as well as those who are looking to protect themselves from contracting the disease.
“I think that World AIDS Day shows that some people support [HIV-positive individuals], but we need to raise awareness a lot more about how the disease is passed,” Howington said. “We should be concerned about HIV every day.”
