A 12-foot section of the AIDS Memorial Quilt hangs on display in the Tang Center atrium, as part of a series of campus and community events to commemorate World AIDS Day Thursday.
Thirty years after the first recognized cases of a pandemic that has killed some 25 million people around the world, the AIDS Memorial Quilt — adorned with the names of 90,000 victims sewn by family and friends — forms the visual centerpiece of University Health Services’ weeklong program of educational, outreach and celebratory events.
Thursday’s program includes a showing of David Weissman’s documentary We Were Here. A panel discussion on the early days of the epidemic in San Francisco will follow the 5 p.m. screening in 20 Barrows Hall.
The program moves off-campus late Thursday, with an evening of appetizers, performances and a health fair with free HIV-testing at Oakland’s Bench and Bar. Hosted by the San Francisco Department of Health and several nonprofits, the “Grace, Beauty, Legs, Sex and Condoms” event kicks off at 8 p.m.
The ASUC is marking World AIDS Day with the opening of registration for its annual Berkeley Dance Marathon, which takes place April 13, 2012 and aims to raise money and spread awareness in the fight against pediatric AIDS.
More than 1,000 members of the campus and local communities signed up for last year’s marathon, which raised over $50,000 for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.