HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention was the deep focus of last week’s events at Skyline College Library as students voiced questions and found answers in a safe and comfortable learning space. On December 3, for more than an hour, Skyline College psychology student and AIDS survivor Chris Hollingshead led more than 25 students in open honest dialogue about the disease and it’s associated stigma. Additional details were reported in the Skyline View’s recent article, “Stigma ends with ME” (December 5, 2019). Another session brought students to the library for a conversation with Skyline College Health Center leader Dr. Walter Cheng on December 5. Through both events, students learned about the history and impact of the disease, it’s symptoms, screening and treatment options.
Throughout the week, the library displayed a beautiful hand-crafted panel from the massive AIDS Memorial Quilt created in memory of those who have lost their lives to HIV/AIDS. According to the National AIDS Memorial,
The quilt is a powerful visual reminder of the AIDS pandemic and continues as the largest ongoing community folk art project in the world. More than 50,000 individual 3-by-6-foot memorial panels – commemorating more than 105,000 individual lives of people who have died of AIDS – have been sewn together by friends, lovers and family members and has transformed into a national treasure.
Find more images at the Learning Center’s photo gallery on Facebook.
World AIDS Day events in the Library were made possibly by collaboration with student club Sexuality & Gender Alliance (SAGA) and the ASSC. Questions? Please contact Pia Walawalkar, Outreach Librarian <walawalkars@smccd.edu>.
Article and Photo by Jessica Silver-Sharp
