WVU Tech campus hosts AIDS Memorial Quilt, honoring 40th anniversary of the AIDS pandemic

This year, West Virginia University Institute of Technology was chosen to host pieces of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The display is in the Library within the Learning Commons, during regular business hours. It is the only place in West Virginia where you can see the quilt and is only available on campus for viewing through December 8.

December 1, 2021 was the 40th anniversary of the first AIDS cases reported in the United States, marking the beginning of the pandemic.

On Wednesday, an informational booth was set up to educate students about the impact of HIV/AIDS and explained each square of the Memorial Quilt represents a life lost to AIDS.

Scott Robertson, Assistant Dean of Students, pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic is not the first time many people have lived through a pandemic.

“We are still fighting the AIDS pandemic forty years later,” says Robertson. “Many individuals believe it doesn’t happen in West Virginia, but we have made national news because of our states’ spike in HIV/AIDS cases.”

WVU Tech Diversity Programs is sponsoring the event. The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission Diversity for Equity grant funded the display.

The National AIDS Memorial has partnered with many host organizations across the country to display more than 400 sections of the quilt, both virtually and in person. In total, there are over 50,000 panels. The quilt, which was first created in 1987, was nominated for the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize.

For more information on the AIDS Memorial Quilt on campus, email Scott Robertson at sdrobertson@mail.wvu.edu or call 304-929-1293.