Hank Haberman would have appreciated the way 75 volunteers showed their devotion to AIDS awareness Thursday night despite pitch darkness and frigid temperatures.
The volunteers tied 500 red ribbons around campus trees for the annual World AIDS Day ribbon tie-up. Each 8-foot ribbon bears the name of a person who has died from AIDS, and represents 1,000 others who have lost the battle.
Haberman’s name graces the red ribbon on a tree directly across from Olin Health Center, where the campus efforts for AIDS awareness and prevention began.
The World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention created the Dec. 1 World AIDS Day in 1988 to increase communication about the disease and to strengthen social tolerance for those who have been diagnosed.
The national theme for World AIDS Day is “AIDS: Men making a difference,” but volunteers from Olin are focusing on the difference everyone can make, not just men.
Physiology senior Lee Haselhuhn has helped plan the campus event for two years, but is more impressed by the number of volunteers this year.
“Everyone is here because they care about it,” Haselhuhn said. “Almost every student group on campus is represented here.”
Many students became involved in campus World AIDS Day events directly through Olin, but others responded to a mass e-mail sent out by the coordinators of the ribbon tie-up.
Human biology junior Jessica Stege volunteered for the ribbon memorial through a friend who had worked on the program before.
“I don’t think enough people our age pay attention to this,” Stege said.
“I don’t personally know anyone with AIDS - but maybe I do and just don’t know it. People our age just have HIV. You can’t see that.”
The giant red ribbons Stege helped tie around campus trees should attract attention, but other nearby events will also be an opportunity for friends and families to remember their loved ones and learn more about the disease.
Panels from the AIDS memorial quilt will be on display from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at the Kresge Art Museum and at the state Capitol.
Volunteers from Olin will be at the International Center today to hand out ribbons and answer questions from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Nutrition science senior Meg Wolff said the day is both happy and sad. But she was more than willing to volunteer Thursday night.
“It’s sad because you’re remembering people who have died, but it’s celebrating their lives, too,” Wolff said as she tied a ribbon graced with Donna Hancock’s name outside Eustace-Cole Hall.
“World AIDS Day is to develop awareness. The process of trying to find a cure will go on for years.”
World AIDS Day events outside of campus include a memorial candlelight procession today at 5:45 p.m. beginning at Lansing City Hall.
The processional will move to the holiday tree at the Capitol, where the tree lights will be dimmed to commemorate those who have died. The processional will continue to the Central United Methodist Church, 215 N. Capitol Ave. in Lansing, for a 6:30 p.m. remembrance service.
Lara Campbell, the coordinator for AIDS and HIV testing at Olin, said many names tacked to ribbons belong to Lansing natives.
“(The ribbons) mean a lot to us, so they need to be respected,” Campbell said. “It’s really powerful to come down Grand River and see campus lined with red ribbons.”
