Despite missing the official Dec. 1 World AIDS day, Oberlin is marking the event with the arrival of the AIDS Memorial Quilt this weekend. The display in the Heisman Field House complements the art community's observance of Day Without Art and the AIDS benefit rave late this evening.
The quilt's three day stay in Oberlin will be the first time such a large portion of the quilt has been assembled in Ohio. Approximately 1,064 panels will be on display this weekend at the Heisman Field House.
The event was organized by 12 different committees, ranging from education to merchandising to ceremonies. The committees are chaired by students, local AIDS activists, community leaders and administrators. Sophomore Jenna Hill, co-chair of the Host Committee and co-chair of ACT-UP, said that the cooperation between the College and the community has been amazing.
The NAMES Project was established in 1987 when a small group of friends, lovers and family members of people who lost their lives to AIDS decided to make a quilt to commemorate their loved ones. The mission of the NAMES Project Foundation is to use the AIDS Memorial Quilt to help bring an end to the AIDS epidemic by raising awareness of the disease.
Ken Holmes, associate dean of Student Life and Services and one of the administrators involved in planning the event, said he thinks the awareness raised by the NAMES Project is its most important element. "When you see that quilt, when you see those 1,064 panels, that's more than 1,000 people. Those are neighbors, brothers and sisters," Holmes said.
Hill said that she thinks the quilt is important in Oberlin because it helps viewers see the gravity of AIDS. "Oberlin is traditionally a closed community," Hill said. She said that the quilt is a good way to raise awareness about problems Oberlin might otherwise ignore.
The quilt display is being staffed largely by volunteers who have been recruited from throughout the Lorain community. Fifty to 60 students from Oberlin, Lorain, Wellington and Grafton schools will be volunteering at the opening ceremony on Dec.7.
Volunteers will be unloading, unfolding and monitoring the quilt, selling NAMES merchandise, reading names and acting as emotional counselors for visitors. Volunteers have been trained by local NAMES representatives.
Holmes said that student response to volunteer opportunities was overwhelming. But he wasn't surprised by the response. "I almost expected it from this caring community," he said. Volunteers are involved in every aspect of the project, according to Holmes.
Junior Addie Rolnick, chair of the ceremonies committee, said that because the chair of the volunteer committee is from Lorain community, many of the volunteers were recruited from that community. According to Hill, there are more volunteers from the outside community than students.
Holmes said he felt the role students have had in organizing and planning the weekend have made the quilt's display in Oberlin particularly unique. "It is a testament that we have terrific students that can do terrific things. It is a testament to the impact students can have," he said.
Holmes said that some of the organizers from outside the College expressed concern that students were so involved with the planning and organizing. Hill said that some of the original organizers from the community quit because they doubted that students could pull off the event. "We're proving them wrong," Hill said.
The New Life Choices and Life Care Center in Elyria, a hospice and bereavement program, and the Lorain Community/St. Joseph Hospital are also sponsors of the project.
Planners have organized many educational outreach activities to accompany the event. Rolnick, Hill and local school groups will visit the quilt on Monday, and ACT-UP Oberlin, one of the sponsoring organizations, will have a table at the field house for education.
Junior Jessica Pittman, chair of the education committee, was in charge of organizing the school groups' visits to the quilt. She said that three different groups are coming from Oberlin and Lorain. She said that at least 100 students will come.
Pittman said that she had hoped for a more enthusiastic response from local schools. She said that she thinks it is because schools don't want to get involved in the politics that go along with AIDS.
Those closely involved with the project could take an Experimental College course taught by Rolnick and Hill. The course, Faces of AIDS, was offered in order to give students an opportunity to get academic credit for being involved with the project.
The opening ceremony will culminate in the unfolding of the quilt. Rolnick, as chair of the ceremonies committee, organized recruitment of local public school students to unfold the quilt on Saturday.
The opening ceremony will also include talks by Hill, Acting Dean of the College of Arts and Science Clayton Koppes, Acting Dean of the Conservatory Kathryn Stuart and Dean of Student Life and Services Charlene Cole-Newkirk will read a poem. Also featured in the ceremony will be a song sung by fifth-year double-degree student Tobias James.
The closing ceremony, being held Monday, will mark the official acceptance of new panels by the NAMES project. Visitors to the quilt are able to submit new panels for the quilt made in memory of friends and family who have died of the AIDS virus.
Planning for this event began a year-and-a-half ago. According to Holmes, the idea came from ACT-UP Oberlin, who recruited the support of other campus groups, the administration and local community groups. Organizers applied to host the quilt over the summer.
The $12,000 cost of bringing the quilt has been met by donations from a wide variety of sources, according to Holmes. He said that donations were made by residential halls, ACT-UP, the President's office, the office of Student Life and Services and the Student Finance Committee.
Holmes said, however, that the project is never truly fully funded because agencies that deal with the effects of AIDS are always in need of more funding. He said that although there is no admission price to the quilt, there will be places to make donations. "I can guarantee that the donations will go back into Lorain County," Holmes said.
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