Panels from AIDS memorial quilt will be on campus

Grand Valley's Student Services and Inclusion and Equity departments have teamed to bring panels from the NAMES Project Foundation AIDS Memorial Quilt to campus next week prior to World AIDS Day on December 1.

The quilt was established in 1987 and has become a traveling memorial to the more than 96,000 people who have died because of AIDS complications. The entire quilt is composed of more than 49,000 3-by-9 panels, each commemorating the life of someone who died of AIDS-related illnesses.

Sections of the quilt will be on display at Grand Valley on the following dates:

• November 26-27: DeVos Center, building C, Pew Grand Rapids Campus

• November 28-29: Kirkhof Center lobby, Allendale Campus

• November 30: Holton-Hooker Living and Learning Center, multipurpose room, Allendale Campus

Other activities include a screening of the documentary, "The Last One," which details the history of the quilt. The film will be shown Thursday, November 29, in Kirkhof Center, rooms 2215-2216, beginning at 4 p.m. Scott Berlin, associate professor and director of the School of Social Work, will lead a discussion following the film. The event is approved for LIB 100/210 courses.

Free HIV testing will be available on November 29 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. in the Kirkhof Center, rooms 1140 and 1142. All activities are free and open to the public.

Departments co-sponsoring activities are Campus Recreation, Campus Interfaith Resources, Disability Support Resources, Gayle R. Davis Center for Women and Gender Equity, Milton E. Ford LGBT Resource Center, Office of Multicultural Affairs, and the University Counseling Center.

For more information, contact the LGBT Resource Center at (616) 331-2530.