The University of Rochester will host a three-day public display of The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, beginning at noon Monday, Nov. 29, with the opening ceremony in the Hirst Lounge of Wilson Commons on the River Campus.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt is the largest ongoing community arts project in the world with its mission to remember the lives of people who died of AIDS. On campus, the Rochester display will feature seven sections of the quilt, which each contain eight panels. The goal of The NAMES Project is to show more than 42,960 panels of the entire quilt on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1.
From Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, a series of free programs will be held at the University to educate the public about AIDS prevention. If current trends continue, between 60 million and 70 million adults will have been infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, by the end of 2000.
A talk about the effect of AIDS on families will be held at 7:15 p.m. Nov. 29 in the Havens Lounge of Wilson Commons. At 8 p.m. Nov. 30, a panel discussion on women and AIDS will take place in the Welles-Brown Room of Rush Rhees Library.
Two researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center, Dr. Michael Keefer and Dr. Steven Fine, will discuss advances in HIV/AIDS prevention and care at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 1, in room MRB 1-9576 of the Arthur Kornberg Medical Research Building on Elmwood Avenue. The program will be followed by a candlelight vigil and closing ceremony at 5 p.m. in Wilson Commons on the River Campus.
Sponsors of the quilt project include University Health Service, Student Activities Office, Student Association, Residential Life, Interfaith Chapel, Students' Nursing Association, UR Student Health Advisory Committee, Panhellenic Association, Rochester Black Men's Forum, Women's Caucus: A Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, Health & Society Council, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Friends Association, Black Students Union, and Charles Drew Pre-Medical Society.