In February 1991, John J. DeGioia, then-dean of student affairs, released a student guide on campus in response to the recent pandemic of HIV/AIDS in the United States.

At the time, HIV infection rates on college campuses were roughly one in 500, according to a 1989 American College Health Association/Center for Disease Control survey.

“In the coming years, our community will be tested by its response to this illness,” DeGioia wrote. “I hope that we will respond with courage and hope, compassion and strength, and that any one of us whose life is affected by this disease can draw support from the strength of our community.”

As graduate student and university employee Miguel Aguero (GRD ’11), who is HIV-positive, looked through that 1991 student guide for the first time over lunch at The Tombs on Wednesday, he was proud of Georgetown for having addressed the epidemic at that time with poise and conviction.

“This is great,” he says, holding the pamphlet in his hands. “They should do something with this in 2008, put it on the Internet or something.”

During the hour lunch, we talked about his status, the struggles he has faced living with HIV for 13 years and the campus community that is surprisingly detached from a disease that he has seen claim the lives of numerous friends and acquaintances.

“Silence and indifference: Put those together and it’s disaster,” he says.

Aguero is certainly not the only student on campus living with HIV, but he is one of the most vocal. Perhaps it comes with age — he is 43. Perhaps it comes with conviction — he is a political refugee from Venezuela who came to America after President Hugo Chavez blocked medication he needed to live. Whatever the reason, Aguero has no shame in discussing a disease that has gone largely unspoken on campus even after DeGioia’s words in 1991.

“People have asked me, ‘Why do you talk about [your status]?’” Aguero says. “There has to be someone to talk about it.”

Looking back 17 years, it becomes evident that there is still much to be done here and now in 2008. In the United States, the epidemic has moved from instilling widespread fear to an almost general acceptance, with anti-retrovirals making life with HIV a lifelong condition rather than a death sentence. According to the latest health report from D.C.’s HIV/AIDS Administration, released last November, as many as one in 20 D.C. residents is living with HIV or AIDS — and far outpacing Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia and Chicago in infection rates.

It is the alarming rate of infection that has campus officials, community organizers and student groups concerned.
The main problem, they say, is that there aren’t enough Agueros talking.

“It’s really frightening,” says David Mallory, deputy director of community relations for the Whitman-Walker Clinic. “People aren’t getting the message.”

The Whitman-Walker Clinic, responsible for D.C.’s annual AIDS Walk, is one of the District’s largest community health care providers, specializing in HIV/AIDS testing and treatment and LGBTQ outreach.
Mallory, who is director of the walk, says he has seen a significant shift over the 22 years that annual fundraiser has taken place.

“[The walk] has changed over the years as the epidemic has changed,” he says.

In the early years of the epidemic, there was no long-term, reliable treatment. There was more urgency and energy then, according to Mallory, with upwards of 25,000 walkers each year. In the heart of the capital, it was as much a political statement as it was a fundraising walk.

But as the initial scare slowly faded away, and friends and colleagues stopped dying thanks to medical breakthroughs, perceptions about HIV and AIDS adjusted. The result has been a startling increase in infection rates in the District.
Mallory points to a press release from the clinic released in August that reported a staggering rise in HIV infections among young men and African Americans. According to the release, “the clinic confirmed a total of 266 new HIV diagnoses, a 232 -percent increase over the number of new diagnoses confirmed in the first half of 2007.”

Mallory says that the walk, scheduled for this Saturday, serves not only as a fundraiser — drawing 10,000 participants and aiming to raise a record one million dollars — but also as a forum to raise awareness and step up efforts to fight rising infection.
This year, the Whitman-Walker Clinic has launched its RED marketing program, short for Reach, Educate, Decrease. The goal of the campaign, according to Mallory, “is to be more sexually honest, more sexually frank.” Ads will be placed on buses, in Metro stations and in clubs over the next few months.

And with the younger generations still exposed to a disease that killed millions before they were born, Mallory stressed that importance of continuing to raise awareness with students.
“Even when the walk is over, we’re on campuses whenever we’re needed,” Mallory said.

The lack of dialogue that Whitman-Walker has sought to address is even reflected on a campus that emphasized action as early as 1991.
The disease has slipped the minds of many Georgetown students, according to Erica Manta (COL ’10), president of GU AIDS Coalition.
“I don’t think the student population is well-educated in terms of getting tested [for HIV],” Manta said.

As treasure of the Center for Social Justice group last year and president this year, Manta has also dealt with HIV and AIDS outside the Hilltop. The picture outside of Healy gates only emphasizes how sheltered those inside really are.

“It’s important that when you talk about fighting AIDS, there’s a tangible way to make a difference,” Manta said of the coalition’s service projects with Food & Friends, which delivers meals to those living with AIDS. The monthly activity, which draws roughly nine students — a mix of coalition members and those looking to complete work sanction hours — allows those on campus to see real lives affected by a very real disease.

It may be small in number — the group has six board members — but the group has played the most significant role on campus in raising HIV/AIDS awareness.

During AIDS Week, which is the first week in December, the group hosts various events, including Unity Live, a concert that combines the likes of Groove Theory, Rangila and multiple acappella groups.
As with most events sponsored by GU AIDS Coalition, the revenue goes straight to Whitman-Walker.

But Manta said that aside from the concert and testing, the AIDS Walk is the most visible way to build awareness for the campus group.

“It was one of the first things I did when I came to campus freshman year,” Manta said. “So many people there from all walks of life — it’s definitely an act of solidarity.”

This year, the coalition has built an umbrella group that Manta said would unite a multitude of Georgetown groups to build school spirit and foster healthy competition. The group GU AIDS Coalition and Friends has so far contributed $1,590 for the walk and includes groups such as GU Pride, BSA, H*yas for Choice and ResLife.
But those numbers still pale in comparison to some other area universities.

American University is far and away the top university fundraiser for the walk, raising nearly $11,000 in total last year. This year, American University’s main fundraising group, AU Fights AIDS! has raised $8,825, according to the AIDS Walk Web site, and Mallory suggests AU may surpass last year’s haul.

If fundraising is any indication of Georgetown’s detachment from the disease, the campus procedures for HIV testing make it even clearer.

GU AIDS Coalition has relied on the Whitman-Walker Clinic to supply a HIV testing service, which is offered free to students.
The group has built a campaign around the service, “I Know My Status,” which attempts to destigmatize HIV testing and promote an open discussion of the virus. The testing usually draws anywhere from 40 to 70 students, according to Manta.

But this year, the van hasn’t come, due in part to a shift in the mission of Whitman-Walker to facilitate a broad range of health care needs, although the clinic still specializes in treating and testing for HIV and AIDS.

Without the testing, Manta said that the AIDS Coalition, the LGBTQ Resource Center and Health Education Services are pushing to make HIV testing services readily available to the Georgetown community, something that has seemingly placed the group at odds with the university.

For those looking for testing on campus now, it can be a complicated — and pricey — ordeal.

James Marsh, director of student affairs said that Georgetown is funded differently then those of other area universities, such as American and the George Washington University, which requires a different pricing model.

“There, students pay a health fee which is used to fund their health services and this gives those schools some latitude in offering free services,” Marsh said. “However, at Georgetown, while students are required to have health insurance of some kind, there is no specified health fee.”

Marsh said that because Georgetown does not charge a health fee, an HIV test at the Student Health Center costs $80, plus a $21 lab fee and an $80 to $90 office visit fee.

That puts the overall price of an HIV test between $180 to $200, a cost that might only be covered by insurance if the student has preventive coverage in his or her plan.

“The Student Health Center at Georgetown is in fact owned and operated by MedStar, which owns the hospital, and as such, we are not in a position to offer free services,” Marsh said. He clarified that the hospital, not the Student Health Center, was responsible for setting fees.

At GWU, the oral HIV test is free, but students are required to pay a standard $20 for an office- visit fee. At American, the cost is $30 for the test. Those universities have partnerships with the D.C. Department of Health, something Georgetown lacks.
Whitman-Walker Clinic sites offer free testing, with a suggested donation.

A spokesperson for MedStar and the D.C Department of Health was not immediately available for comment.

“I believe we all would support efforts to find alternative ways to fund ‘free’ HIV testing on campus,” Marsh said.

There have been other instances when Georgetown has been at odds with the work of GU AIDS Coalition, which Manta said had prevented sufficient dialogue about the disease on campus. Aside from the university’s policy that prohibits the sale of condoms on campus, Manta pointed to the fact that group members are not even allowed to promote condom use during the group’s Unity Live concert.
“The condom thing on campus is such a huge portion of that [conflict] — condoms are used to prevent pregnancies, and that’s true, but it’s also a huge protection against HIV,” she said.
Aguero agrees that discussing condom use is important to protect students from the virus.

“Living with HIV isn’t easy,” he says flatly. “You have to fight for your voice, that you’re treated equally.”

While he makes a point to stress that he has never felt stigmatized at Georgetown for having HIV, Aguero says that there is still more to be done on the Hilltop.

“This is a disease that doesn’t discriminate,” Aguero says. “Just because you have a GOCard doesn’t mean you’re safe.”