University students observed World AIDS Day throughout the week, hosting events and benefits to raise money to benefit AIDS treatment in Africa.
Students for Global Health, a 2-year-old University student group, spent the week at a table outside the EMU selling pins made by women and orphans in Rwanda who have been affected by HIV and AIDS. The pins sold for $5 each and the group gave the money to FACE AIDS, a non-profit organization based in Palo Alto, Calif.

Alex Goodell, University junior and director of Students for Global Health, said FACE AIDS matches the funds the campus group raises with private grant money and sends it to Rwanda via the non-profit organization Partners in Health. Last year, Goodell said, Students for Global Health raised $5,000, which turned into a $10,000 grant.
The money raised at the University goes to a Partners in Health clinic in Kirehe, Rwanda, Goodell said. Unlike clinics operated by groups such as Doctors Without Borders, the clinic in Kirehe has only two American doctors, Goodell said, and the rest of the employees are Rwandan. The clinic is a permanent fixture in the community, he said.
The money that funds the clinic is not earmarked for AIDS medicine specifically, Goodell said. This allows doctors to provide patients with food, condoms, AIDS counseling or medicine to treat diseases such as malaria or tuberculosis, which can be more serious than HIV, he said.
Goodell said people should remember they can help with the AIDS crisis in many ways, not only by helping provide medical care. “We all have an obligation to social justice. We can all wear our pin differently,” he said.
Students for Global Health is raising money in more ways than one: The group collaborated with the Campbell Club, a co-op for University students, to put on a benefit concert Friday at the Club, located at E. 16th Avenue and Alder Street.
The concert will showcase local bands Superdream, Blast Majesty, Rockbottom Scoundrels and Rare Monk. It costs $3 or is free with a pin purchased from Students for Global Health. All the proceeds go to FACE AIDS.
Campbell Club member Amy Fox, a University senior, said the Club feels good about dedicating time to the cause. “It’s one of the most important things going on right now,” she said.
While Students for Global Health is working to raise money, other groups are working to raise awareness. The EMU Cultural Forum worked with volunteers to set up two long banquet tables covered with pages documenting the history of the AIDS epidemic worldwide.
The timeline begins in 1955, the year scientists think humans likely contracted the virus from a subspecies of chimpanzee. The exhibit went on to describe nearly every event related to AIDS, from legislation to pharmaceutical developments, from scientific discoveries to pop culture influences.
Also included in the timeline exhibit were prints of magazine covers that dealt with the issue, as well as free condoms and pamphlets explaining correct condom use.
In another effort to raise campus awareness of the issue, the Cultural Forum will host a Condom Fashion Show on Friday at 8 p.m. in the EMU Ballroom. The event will feature clothing made of condoms, as well as testimonials and entertaining skits.
Cultural Forum assistant coordinator Dylan Loigman, a University freshman, said the show is meant to raise awareness about safe sex, as well as AIDS. This year the designers used dental dams in addition to condoms, to include more than just a heterosexual audience.
“I think (AIDS) is something that can really affect everyone,” he said, “and touch everyone somewhere in the world.”