Last night University students and faculty as well as Charlottesville community members participated in the 24th HIV/AIDS Walking Vigil and Ceremony.
The vigil was sponsored by students in a HIV/AIDS course offered by the Nursing School and AIDS Services Group, a local organization that provides support to those living with HIV/AIDS in and around Charlottesville
According to Nursing Prof. Reba Childress, who has taught NUIP 315, "HIV and AIDS: A Personal and Social Perspective" since 1992, the vigil is part of the wider recognition of November as HIV/AIDS awareness month at the University.
"President [John T.] Casteen has been declaring November HIV/AIDS awareness month for about five years now," Childress said. "He has been instrumental in helping to get the governor to declare the first week in December HIV/AIDS awareness week for the Commonwealth of Virginia."
Childress also said that the vigil was organized by her students as part of the service component of the course.
"Through the service project component of the course, students get a personal perspective, so they can see what people with HIV/AIDS endure daily and what they have to do to survive," Childress said. "I am trying to get not just the University but the local community involved as well."
Childress added that she has seen an increase in student involvement in HIV/AIDS awareness in the years since she began teaching the course.
"Youth, high school and university students are one of the major groups affected by HIV," Childress said. "The collaboration between the University and the City has changed, and all of it's for the better. Students have taken the lead in activities and have been more proactive."
The vigil began with a speech by Nursing School Dean Jeanette Lancaster followed by a march from the Rotunda to Barracks Road Shopping Center. Students carried banners created by different organizations within the University. The candlelight ceremony included speeches by the ASG Director Reverend Kathy Baker and Senior Associate Dean Shamim Sisson of the Office of Student Life.
Along with the vigil, several other events have been planned for today to commemorate National AIDS Awareness Day at the University. The AIDS Service, Awareness, & Prevention student organization sponsored a week of events including viewing of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, a panel discussion and a screening of a documentary about AIDS vaccination research.
Third-year College student Joanna Cohn, who is a member of ASAP, said she believes it is necessary to remind the University community that the AIDS epidemic is still an international problem.
"I think it is important because people have really been focusing on Hurricane Katrina and different disasters recently and AIDS is a global disaster that is continuing," Cohn said. "It's definitely a global epidemic that doesn't get enough attention."
Additionally, the Infectious Disease Clinic of the University Medical Center is sponsoring free HIV testing today at the hospital.
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