It's a different day at Richmond: a display of the AIDS Quilt Panels is on campus today. That's remarkable, since it doesn't seem like something that would have happened a few years ago. The atmosphere is changing these days: our new President has challenged us all to reconsider the mission of the University. He's involved in academic issues and is becoming a force in the day-to-day life of the place.
I don't know whether the panels were scheduled to be here before he accepted the Presidency, but I sense that he's responsible in some way for the panels coming to Richmond. He'll be speaking at the event tonight. That alone is commendable. But in a newspaper story about the quilt, he mentioned that he had lost a colleague to AIDS. In making this statement, he brings a personal dimension to the AIDS crisis that mirrors the intent of the Names Project. The victims aren't nameless, and we are diminished by their loss.
For the last three weeks Jean and I have been going to what I've called our "birthing class." The first two weeks were about labor and delivery. Last week we learned about feeding and bathing baby. There's a class tonight, which includes a pediatrician discussing infant care. As useful as this class might be, we're not going. Instead we will attend the program that begins at 8, to join with the community to mourn those who have died and recommit ourselves to bringing an end to this epidemic.
© 1998 Kevin J.T. Creamer