World AIDS Day events are free and open to the public. Indoor masking is required and will help us protect the health of featured speakers and attendees.

AIDS Memorial Quilt Viewing, 2-7:30 p.m.
American folk art and quilting have significant history in the AIDS pandemic, beginning in the 1980s with the iconic presentation on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and continuing today as panels are painstakingly created by hand to memorialize those who have died of AIDS-related complications. These serve to increase awareness of the disease and bring solace to survivors, and are deeply moving for visitors to experience. A display of quilts sponsored by Quilt Project Gold Coast in collaboration with the NAMES Project Foundation will be on view in the Gilbert Sports and Fitness Center Lobby beginning at 2 p.m.

World AIDS Day ’22 Panel Presentation and Candlelight Vigil, 5:15-7:30 p.m.
Organized in collaboration with the HIV/AIDS Coalition of Ventura County, including Ventura County Public Health and Planned Parenthood of California Central Coast, this presentation is part of the county’s annual observance of World AIDS Day. We invite everyone to consider HIV/AIDS not only as a global-health issue but also as a social-justice issue that impacts local communities. Adina Nack, PhD, medical sociologist and professor at Cal Lutheran, will start by sharing global, national and local updates on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Then, Neil and Keith Coffman-Grey from Quilt Project Gold Coast will describe the history and continued significance of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. In addition, we’ll hear about personal experiences of living with HIV/AIDS. The event will conclude with Colleen Windham-Hughes, MDiv, PhD, and students leading a nondenominational Candlelight Vigil.

Events are sponsored by Cal Lutheran’s Public Health Program and Sarah W. Heath Center for Equality and Justice.

For more information, contact the Sarah W. Heath Center for Equality and Justice at cej@CalLutheran.edu or 805-493-3694.