By Matthew Beale
The Dartmouth Staff
Though Green Key Weekend is known more for drunken revelry than for solving global problems, the organizers of an AIDS vigil in Vermont hope to change that perception this weekend. The event, sponsored by the Global Health Council and Community Resource Network, is aiming to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic. It will take place in front of Dartmouth Hall Sunday evening.
The vigil will begin at 7:30 and will have speakers, a performance by the Rockapellas and a reception. After each speaker finishes, he or she will light a candle and will pass on the flame to part of the crowd. Event organizer Sara Fahey, a student at the Center for Evaluative Clinical Sciences who is getting her field experience at GHC, said the vigil should take between an hour and an hour and a half including the reception.
Though this is the event's 22nd year, this is the first time it has been held at Dartmouth. In previous years, it was held on the Norwich Green. Fahey hopes that bringing the event to campus will get more students involved.
Fahey aims to spotlight both the worldwide and local AIDS problem with the memorial.
"I hope it will increase awareness, especially that there are so many AIDS patients in New Hampshire and the Upper Valley, and I hope people will learn about ways to contribute or volunteer for the cause," Fahey said. "One of the speakers will be Dr. Lahey. He's an infected disease specialist and he was brought up here because there are so many AIDS patients."
The Rockapellas, who performed at the memorial in the past, will sing "Patchwork Quilt," a song about AIDS. Juliana Lisi '05, the musical director of the Rockapellas last year, feels the event's goal of raising awareness is a worthy one.
"I think the goal is partially spreading awareness, which I think is actually really important even though it sounds kind of 'fuzzy,'" Lisi said.
Opening remarks will be made by Kathryn Guare, the interim vice president of operations and the director of conference and membership services at the GHC. Other speakers include Dr. Sharon McDonnell, a consultant whose contracts include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Vermont Department of Health, and Dartmouth Medical School adjunct associate professor, Anne Macksoud, producer of "Coming to Say Goodbye: Stories of AIDS in Africa," Dr. Timothy Lahey, staff physician in the section of Infectious Diseases and International Health at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and an assistant professor of medicine, Alex Kahan of KickAIDS and Tom Mock, executive director of ACORN.
In addition to the Rockapella performance, EBA's, Bagel Basement, Lou's and Au Bon Pain donated food for the reception and Dan and Whitt's donated candles.