HIV/AIDS Events
Each year, the Health Education Office provides a week of events around HIV/AIDS for World AIDS Day on December 1. We welcome any student or student group who wishes to participate in this week to contact us to collaborate on events for the week or if the student group would like for us to advertise their event during our week.
Some of the events that the Health Education Office sponsors are: Wear RED Day, ART4AIDS, Condom-a-thon, HIV Vigils and information tabling throughout campus. To find out more about each of these events please see the below descriptions.
Wear RED Day
We encourage all students to participate in Wear RED Day on the Tuesday of World AIDS Week to show their support of HIV infected individuals as well as showing support for research, education and outreach.
ART4AIDS
Health Education present ART4AIDS, an art gallery featuring student, staff and faculty artists' work to support those who are coping with HIV/AIDS and those who have been lost.
Each artist provides a piece that raises awareness about the reality of HIV/AIDS pandemic that has affected over 40 million people around the world.
The art in this gallery symbolizes the many ways HIV/AIDS has affected people. The artists have chosen a number of messages to convey and put in a physical form to show the community. In essence, each piece tells a part of the crisis that has touched every continent.
While some art is more literal, displaying public service announcement messages, others are representative of the situations many people endure from HIV/AIDS.
The Health Education invites students to express themselves through artistic mediums including paintings, collages, statues, PowerPoint art, glass designs, etc. For students who would like to submit art to be displayed, it is due the week before the November week break. Students need to submit their full name, the title of the art, a contact number/email and indicate whether or not they are donating the piece to the Health Education office after the show.
The ART4AIDS opening is the Wednesday of World AIDS Week. All students and community members are invited to attend.
HIV Vigil
Join the Health Education Office for a night of music and remembrance while we honor people who have been affected and infected with HIV. This event showcases some of the musical talents of UConn's acapella groups and ends with a vigil on the University seal by the library. This event occurs the Thursday of World AIDS Week.
Condom-a-thon
The University of Connecticut's Health Education Office and its peer education group, the Sexperts, fundraised for the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford, Connecticut. During our 2nd annual event, we were able to raise money for World AIDS Week for the camp. The Health Education Office and its peer education group raised about $1138.80 for the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for their HIV+ week.
Instead of pledging money for a walk-a-thon, for each dollar we had raised in the weeks before the event, we hoped to teach a safer sex skill to a University of Connecticut student. To do so, Health Education decided to host its 2nd annual Condom-a-Thon during a late night event around World AIDS Day. Over 150 students participated by practicing a safer sex technique- how to put a condom on correctly or cut a condom into a dental dam- and they received an ice cream sundae in return. Though we were unable to teach a safer sex skill for each dollar we raised, we found that many students were interested in learning a safer sex skill for some; this was a new acquired skill.
We were excited about the donations raised, the turn out, and feel that this event was very successful for all. The Condom-a-thon occurs the Friday of World AIDS Week.
For more information about the Hole in the Wall Gang camp, check out http://www.holeinthewallgang.org/.
Informational Tabling
Health Education staff table on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday during lunch time of World AIDS week to raise awareness of upcoming events and to give out educational materials, testing information, abstinence kits and safer sex supplies. We welcome all students to stop by to get a ribbon or other information during that week. If students are unable to stop by our tables we encourage students to stop by the office in South for any of the above materials throughout the week.
