Galvanizing Middlebury College Awareness in the Critical Fight Against AIDS and

Author: Jonathan White

Galvanizing Middlebury College Awareness
in the Critical Fight Against AIDS

The Middlebury Campus welcomes the initiative put forth by Elizabeth DiCioccio '06 and Jamie Hess '03 in establishing a Middlebury chapter of Students Against Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC). Bringing the fight against AIDS home to Middlebury is vital. This disease is one of the tantamount crises in the world today and one that our generation must confront now to stem catastrophic death tolls and to put an end to unfathomable human suffering.
We encourage SGAC to move forward with diligence and enthusiasm in planning their symposium scheduled for May. The symposium should prove poignant so as to remind members of the Middlebury community why the fight against the disease is relevant and essential even to students living far from the African nations so ravaged by AIDS. Students and faculty who have traveled to disease-ravaged parts of Africa would be invaluable in lending their informed perspectives.
The idea is to make this health and geopolitical issue one that students understand as urgent and tied to international stability.
Moreover, as last year saw the first increase in many years in the number of HIV/AIDS cases reported in the United States in a decade, SGAC should be wary that awareness about the disease is far from universal in this country. This is a disease that largely affects youth and there is a danger in both complacence and a lack of learning about HIV/AIDS prevention.
The task of educating and raising awareness is formidable, but we endorse the SGAC's bringing this global crusade to the Middlebury campus.


Visible Signs of a Matured Community

The Middlebury Open Queer Alliance's (moqa) ongoing Visibility Week should be a moment for all on campus to pause and reflect on the importance of tolerance.
Earlier this year, Middlebury witnessed the unsettling destruction of the moqa symbolic closet on the green in front of McCullough. Though an ice rink now covers where the closet stood, let us not forget the lessons from the fall that resonate still from the space in front of McCullough.
Acceptance and considerate behavior are crucial to making Middlebury College a strong community of learners.
Hopefully Visibility Week, by fostering support for gay life on campus as witnessed by the distribution of cookies and stickers in the dining halls on Sunday, will also bring about constructive forums for the promotion and understanding of diversity. Wednesday's lecture "Politicizing the Personal: Reflections on Civil Unions" with Bill Lippert, the only openly-gay member of the Vermont House, and Stan Baker, along with Thursday's forum "Undressing Sexuality: Diverse Perspectives" are avenues through which learning can take place and where individuals should be able to speak frankly, openly and in compassionate company.
This week should also be a chance for Middlebury students to show that the College boasts a more tolerant and civil atmosphere than demonstrated by last fall's cowardly acts.