Fourth Consecutive AIDS Compassion Week Seeks to Educate Community on Effects of AIDS/HIV Epidemic

Actor Wilson Cruz, Humanitarian Ellen McCurley ’82 Among Events

The Bishop Healy Multicultural Society has planned a week of events dedicated to educating the community on the effects of the AIDS/HIV epidemic and to building compassion for victims and their loved ones. This is the fourth consecutive year of AIDS Compassion and Awareness Week, the largest and most important event the Society sponsors. The events, free and open to the public unless otherwise noted, run between Nov. 28 and Dec. 3.

November 28 - 30

Face-to-Face AIDS Mosaic
11 a.m. - 3 p.m.; Hogan Campus Center, First Floor
The AIDS Photomosaic is a unique artwork consisting of two panels of portraits of HIV-infected people. Each panel measures 12 feet high by 12 feet wide. Holy Cross will showcase one panel from Nov. 28 through Nov. 30 before its unveiling at Boston Medical Center for World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. Each panel contains 48 black and white sepia-toned photographs. The portraits capture men and women, young and old, healthy and sick, happy and sad. The photos lie in a framework created to look like soil. Scattered among the portraits are photos of southern African flowers in various states of blossom.

November 28 - Dec. 1

Make Your Own Quilts (For Students)
11 a.m. - 3 p.m.; Hogan Campus Center, First Floor
Open to all students who would like the opportunity to showcase their thoughts and feelings about HIV/AIDS, whether or not they have been affected directly. Quilt pieces made will be hung at the AIDS Banquet on Dec. 2.

November 28

Speaker - Wilson Cruz
7 p.m.; Hogan Campus Center, Room 519
Wilson Cruz played Rickie Vasquez on the popular television show My So-Called Life. He will be speaking about HIV/AIDS.

November 29

Luncheon
12:30 - 2 p.m.; Hogan Campus Center, Room 304
The luncheon, titled " ‘Wrapped Up’: Condoms, the Church, and the Fight Against AIDS" will feature a panel consisting of members of the broad Holy Cross community of Jesuits, students and professors who have accepted the responsibility of providing an informational overview of the issues involved.

Multicultural Student Organizations Quilt Presentation
7 p.m.; Hogan Campus Center, Room 519
Each Multicultural Student Organization at Holy Cross has constructed their own quilt piece that serves to depict the effect the HIV/AIDS epidemic has had on their respective communities.

November 30

Talk by Ellen McCurley ’82
7 p.m.; Hogan Campus Center, Room 320
McCurley, founder of the Pendulum Project, a non-profit organization that helps children who are orphaned and vulnerable due to HIV/AIDS, poverty and war, will give a talk titled "Are We Making Progress in Combating HIV/AIDS? Comparison of Two African Countries: Botswana and Malawi."

December 1 - World AIDS Awareness Day

Luncheon
12:30 - 2 p.m.; Hogan Campus Center, Room 304
The luncheon, titled "How Can the U.S. Government ‘Keep the Promise’ to Those Living with HIV/AIDS?," will explore issues of government policies as they relate to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and those affected by it. Members of the community familiar with HIV/AIDS government legislation are encouraged to attend this discussion.

AIDS Vigil
5:30 p.m.; McCooey Chapel
Daniel Corrou, assistant chaplain, will lead a meditation in remembrance of those who lost their lives as a result of the AIDS epidemic, and offer prayers in support of all whose lives have been touched by the disease. It will be a time to ask God for strength, understanding, and an acceptance for all.

December 2

AIDS Compassion & Awareness Week Charity Banquet "Keep the Promise"
Doors open: 6 p.m.; Hogan Campus Center Ballroom
Admission: $20 students; $40 others

Tickets can be purchased at the Hogan Lobby Tables, First Floor, Nov. 28 - Dec. 1 from 11 a.m. - 3 a.m. Val Philippe ’07 or Bronwyn Vogler ’07 may also be contacted to purchase tickets. Checks should be made payable to Bishop Healy Multicultural Society. Cash will also be accepted.

The banquet will serve as an education event and fundraiser open to the Holy Cross and Worcester community. The banquet is themed "Keep the Promise," as the Holy Cross community lives by its mission statement of "men and women for others."

Attire is semi-formal. Dinner will be served. There will be raffle drawings, student performances, a slide show, speakers, giveaways, and displays of special projects from AIDS Project Worcester and Holy Cross students. Those who have helped with the week’s preparations will give special presentations.

Money raised from the banquet and other events support AIDS Project Worcester, the primary and most comprehensive AIDS service organization in Central Massachusetts and the Pendulum Project, which raises funds that go directly to grassroots community groups in Uganda, Malawi, Ghana and South Africa to help support children and families affect by HIV/AIDS.

The Bishop Healy Multicultural Society seeks to enhance the understanding of diversity represented at Holy Cross.

Dec. 6 - 7

Confidential HIV Testing
Dec. 6: 2 - 5 p.m. and Dec. 7: 10:30 a.m. - 1 :30 p.m.; Health Services, Loyola Hall
The testing is anonymous and confidential. Students are to call 508-793-2276 to schedule an appointment and give their initials.