Emory University once again hosted the nation's largest collegiate display of The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt on Tuesday for World AIDS Day.
According to an Emory report, the 11th annual student-run Quilt on the Quad event featured the largest display ever with about 900 quilt panels honoring individuals who died as a result of AIDS.
Jessica Moore, a senior at Emory whose aunt was an AIDS victim many years ago, is co-president of Quilt on the Quad and has been working with HIV/AIDS-related organizations since high school, she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
When Dr. Arri Eisen, professor of pedagogy, researcher and ethicist at Emory reached out to Moore to help publicize World AIDS Day events this year, the two collaborated with teams to host the first-ever Quilt on the Quad event that featured a parade, dance performances, free HIV testing and of course, the quilt.
The most touching part of the event, Moore said, is the way people react when they see the quilt panels, especially those who have a loved one who died as a result of the disease.
Founded in 1987, the AIDS Memorial Quilt now weighs 54 tons and contains more than 48,000 panels, honoring more than 94,000 individuals.
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