Community walks for AIDS awareness

The red and white balloons adorned the steps leading to Teter Quad’s south courtyard Sunday and formed the shape of a ribbon, commemorating the fifth year of the Student Global AIDS Campaign’s AIDS Walk.

This is the first year the walk has taken place on campus. In previous years, the group has based the walk primarily in the surrounding community.

“Our walk today is a walk of pride,” said Sierra Launer, an 18-year-old student at Harmony School. “It helps us to connect and become more accepting of one another.”
Launer then revealed she was born HIV-positive and read a poem titled “Who Am I?” in honor of her own identity and people suffering with HIV and AIDS.

Inside Teter, performances by the Singing Hoosiers and the Sexy Flatts, as well as information tables from IU Health and Wellness and Positive Link, promoted HIV/AIDS awareness and captured the spirit of people living with the disease.

The Sexy Flatts sang Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” and Billy Joel’s “For the Longest Time.”

Sophomore Katie Shortt, who sings alto in the Sexy Flatts and is a Student Global AIDS Campaign member, said the group tried to select songs that were appropriate for a sense of togetherness in the community.

“We all really wanted to help raise awareness in students and strengthen the outreach of the SGAC,” she said.

Senior Anne Litchfield, student manager for the Singing Hoosiers, said the group was excited to get involved once contacted by the Student Global AIDS Campaign to perform.

“The AIDS Walk is a very positive way to get campus involved in awareness efforts for the disease,” she said. “This is our first time performing here and I had never even heard of the AIDS Walk, but now that I’m here, it’s just that much more worthwhile.”
The Singing Hoosiers performed a Queen medley in their set, including the song “We Are the Champions.”

Litchfield said she found this to be an appropriate choice in the spirit of the AIDS Walk because the lead singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury, died of AIDS, and many people could connect to his story.

Katie Wilkinson, office and outreach coordinator of IU Health and Wellness, emphasized the importance of being involved with student groups that seek to raise awareness on vital issues.

“We are all working toward the same goal,” she said. “We all collaborate with Positive Link and work on preventing the spread of HIV. It’s nice that we have the chance to make the issue of HIV/AIDS more visible to students.”

Wilkinson said educational outreach is needed more for students because of the tendency of many young people to perceive themselves as “invincible” when away from home for the first time.

“The word needs to get out that it only takes one time,” she said.

Sophomore Allison Lester, a walk participant and Bloomington resident, said she founded the group First Aid to AIDS in high school as a method of educational outreach for students.

“The cure for HIV will be education,” she said. “We’re the next generation, and we have a responsibility to make sure everyone is informed and knows that HIV/AIDS most concerns the youth.”

At 1:45 p.m., the walk around campus began. Despite the rain, students and members of the Bloomington community came out in a spirit of cheer to support the cause of AIDS awareness.

Bloomington resident and faculty adviser for Student Global AIDS Campaign Richard Hardy brought his 6-year-old daughter Nicole along for the walk. She sat on his shoulders and held an umbrella above the two of them.

Hardy reflected on what it was like to listen to Launer share her experience, saying he was moved by her positive message.

“It was so beneficial to hear Sierra’s story,” he said. “I think she shows an amazing amount of strength that people could learn a lot from.”