Right up until the end of her junior year at Seattle Pacific University (WA), Lisa Krohn was fairly content with the world in which she lived. It was pleasant. It was comfortable. And as for the disturbing realities beyond the space which she occupied, she was satisfied to claim that most blissful of companions- ignorance.
"I wasn't interested in global issues," Krohn remembers. "I was that Christian college student who lived in a bubble, not really engaged in global issues. I didn't care to be."
Then came the summer of 2003, and with it an internship at World Vision's U.S. headquarters in Federal Way, Wash. that would change not only her own life, but the lives of countless other CCCU college students across the country.
One day during the internship, Krohn and fellow SPU student James Pedrick sat among a roomful of other interns, listening to Steve Haas, World Vision's vice president of church relations, as if he were speaking only to them."Everyone is putting their hopes in you to do the right thing about AIDS," he said."And quite frankly, I think you're afraid to do anything."
Pedrick and Krohn returned to Seattle Pacific in the fall with a new-found passion for educating their campus about the AIDS pandemic, and finding ways to take action.
Starting in Seattle
In February 2004, Pedrick and Krohn were joined by SPU senior Jackie Yoshimura who volunteered to help launch the first student-led AIDS campaign in the university's history. With modest funding from both World Vision and SeattlePacific, these three seniors and other student volunteers led their campus in a week-long "Acting on AIDS Week." The first half of the week focused on awareness, and the second half was concentrated on practical ways for students to get involved in the fight against AIDS.
The campaign's highlight, quite literally, was the "Do You See Orange?" T-shirt Campaign, designed to illustrate the break-neck speed at which the disease is claiming lives. The United Nations estimates that in the next six years more than 25 million children worldwide will lose their parents to the AIDS virus.
So on three consecutive Wednesdays, student volunteers wore orange shirts with "Orphan" printed across the chest. During the first week, 125 students wore the shirts, the next week 250 students wore them. On the last Wednesday, 350 students wore the bright orange T-shirts, driving home just how fast the pandemic spreads.
"It was a T-shirt campaign that changed the lives of students wearing the shirts," Pedrick told SPU's alumni magazine. "They now have this deep, indirect relationship with the children who have to face the reality of AIDS on a day-to-day basis."
Going national
The Seattle Pacific campaign met with such positive response and generated so much outside interest from other campuses that World Vision hired Krohn, Pedrick and Yoshimura two months after their June 2004 college graduation. Ever since, the three have been blazing the trail of college student-led AIDS activism under the name of "Acting on AIDS" as a program of World Vision. CCCU campuses across the country have begun their own Acting on AIDS (AoA) chapters using the resources provided by the now-national initiative.
"Any major movement/revolution can be traced back to college students. College students will change the face of AIDS," said Krohn. "There is a lot of stigma surrounding AIDS; it's been a sensitive subject, and for the most part, generations before us within the Church decided not to pay attention to it. My generation is becoming more conscious of social justice issues. And this is the biggest social justice issue humanity has ever faced."
This student-led crusade has seen remarkable support from leaders in Christian higher education, as well. In conjunction with World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, 2004, and with strong support from CCCU President Bob Andringa, the CCCU and World Vision held an AIDS conference call moderated by Steve Haas of World Vision. Krohn said that the goal of the call was to encourage administration and faculty to support campus-based AIDS activism, "to realize that if anyone's going to do something about the pandemic, it should be the Church; if anyone will mobilize, it should be college students." Roughly 60 CCCU campuses were represented on the call.
The most recent national event for students was the Student AIDS Summit hosted Feb. 17-19, 2005, by the WheatonCollege (IL) chapter of Acting on AIDS (also affiliated withthe Student Global AIDS Campaign, a national movement begun at Harvard University in 2001). The summit drew more than 300 students from about 45 campuses, most of which are members of the CCCU. The goal of the Summit was to consider how North American Christians can respond with compassion to the AIDS pandemic in Africa, India, Southeast Asia and other parts of the world.
Choosing the giant
Krohn, Pedrick and Yoshimura had set a goal to have six campus chapters in place by June 2005. As of the end of March, there are now 36 campus chapters at CCCU schools. The work set before this team of three is abundant and sometimes overwhelming. Krohn is quick to point out that it's important to remember exactly who Goliath is, to keep the target- however huge - in sight at all times. For these three activists, Goliath isn't AIDS itself.
"I'm not fighting AIDS- that's God's battle," said Krohn. "Sometimes our program is growing faster than we can keep up with and create materials for. That's the giant for me. We're slinging stones, though, keeping the program where it needs to be: at the grassroots, empowering students to engage their own campuses."
Lindsay Schmidt, a first-year graduate student at Geneva College(PA) and part of Geneva's AoA leadership team, decided to tackle AIDS awareness on her campus after sitting in on an AoA meeting at Seattle Pacific in November 2004.
"Many students (or Americans for that matter) do not think that HIV/AIDS affects them directly, but it does," said Schmidt. "HIV/AIDS is killing our family...our brothers and sisters in Africa and around the world! Most of our students do not realize the magnitude of this pandemic, and if they do all they see are the crazy statistics. We want to create student ownership and make this a personal issue that they can relate to. . .We are not doing this because it's a cool cause; we are doing this because we love Jesus:' Whatever you have done for the least of these brothers of mine, you have done for me' (Matthew25:40)."
To further assist the AoA campus chapters, Krohn, Pedrick and Yoshimura are organizing a few big events for the 2005-2006 academic year. The first is a tour of campuses with AoA chapters featuring Steve Haas as a main speaker for a day-long event during the fall of 2005. The second is a national conference for early spring 2006. At the conference, students will come together after the AoA tour and World AIDS Day Dec. 1, 2005, and share what their chapters are doing in response. "At this point," said Krohn, "we are looking for support from faculty and administrators for these events and for their respective campus chapters."
Slinging stones
Rob Stuyck, a sophomore at Gordon College(MA), is just one example of an empowered college student daring to address AIDS on his campus. Under Stuyck's leadership, the Gordon chapter has acted on AIDS in a variety of ways just in the fall 2004 semester. They have carried out the "Do You See Orange?" T-shirt Campaign; sold bracelets made by AIDS-infected African women to provide them with income; provided students with picture cards of orphans (due to AIDS) to pray for; and hosted benefit dinners in residence halls. During the spring 2005 semester, Stuyck said the AoA chapter is focusing on AIDS pandemic education for the chapter itself, for the campus and for the surrounding community.
LeeUniversity (TN) senior Jessica Carlton began an AIDS awareness/activism group on her campus for before she heard of Acting on AIDS. When her group was in its infancy, Carlton discovered Acting on AIDS and joined her efforts with theirs. "They've provided resources and numerous ideas to generate interest on campus and raise funds," said Carlton. "AoA also provides accountability and a network of other colleges that are working toward the same goal. Knowing that we're not alone in a fight which often seems overwhelming is invaluable."
Carlton's chapter has also held the "Do You See Orange?" T-shirt Campaign, along with other efforts including: a concert benefiting AIDS orphans in Kenya; a three-day summit with various speakers; Kazuri bead necklace sale to raise funds; and involvement with the 1000 Wells Project, a Jars of Clay initiative through the Blood: Water Mission. Through this project, students raise money to provide clean water wells in Africa, an essential for those with HIV/AIDS.
Carlton and Stuyck share in common the support from their administrators/faculty, an element which Krohn says is critical for ongoing success. "The support of the administration at Gordon College has been one of the greatest contributing factors in increasing the awareness on our campus," said Stuyck. "They have been in constant dialogue with us and they are always wondering if there is anything they can do to partner with us in raising awareness on our campus and taking an active part in the global fight against AIDS. They truly believe in us. They want my generation to do what their generation failed to do."
*This article originally appeared in the Spring 2005 CCCU Advance.
Related Links:
Acting on AIDS