Members of the university and surrounding communities are invited to help participate in the memorial to remember those lost to HIV/AIDS and addiction. The memorial will be displayed in Drinko Library the week beginning Monday, March 6. Marshall employees and students, as well as community members, are invited to bring special items or pictures of loved ones to be displayed in the memorial space. Items can be brought to Drinko Circulation between 2 and 8 p.m.
An HIV/AIDS and addiction panel discussion is planned for 3 – 4:30 p.m. Monday, March 6, in Room 402 of Drinko Library. The panelists include Marshall faculty members Dr. Allison Carey, Dr. Margaret Sullivan, Dr. Cody Lumpkin, and Tijah Bumgarner.
A public screening of the documentary “How to Survive a Plague,” by David France, will be presented at 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 7, in Room 154 of Smith Hall.
An HIV/AIDS and Addiction Resource Fair is planned for 12-14 p.m. Wednesday, March 8, in the Drinko Library lobby. It will include HIV screenings; a “Be the One Ally” training at 10 a.m.; Naloxone training at 1 p.m.; and a SMART RxUniversity training at 2 p.m. in Drinko Library Room 138.
“After years of living in pandemic conditions due to COVID-19, many people were unable to find regular testing. Knowing that the average age of HIV infection happens between the ages of 13-24, the college population is a great place to start encouraging regular testing, using PrEP, and taking other preventive measures, such as using protection and clean needles,” said MegHan Sexton-Harness of Marshall Libraries. “We chose to tie addiction into AIDS Awareness Week because it is such a large problem in this area. Kanawha County is currently experiencing the most alarming HIV outbreak in the country, according to the CDC. As a neighbor to Kanawha, we want to get ahead of the wave before it hits in order to save lives.”
All of these events are free and open to all and sponsored by Marshall University Libraries in conjunction with Collegiate Recovery and the LGBTQ+ Office.