Creating University/High School/Community Agency Partnerships Focused on Hiv/Aids: A New York City Example, and a Call For International Participation

Helen Rodnite Lemay

Stony Brook University, New York

(Estados Unidos)

and

Lynn. D. Salvage

Briarcliffe College, Patchogue, New York

(Estados Unidos)

This paper has a dual purpose:

1. To report on a project addressing the following questions: In what ways can including workers and clients from an AIDS Service Center in a credit-bearing University History course on AIDS and the Social History of Medicine enrich the experiences of all students? What problems arise in this situation?

2. To encourage networking among College or University representatives who have engaged in projects involving community partnerships focused on HIV/AIDS with the eventual goal of joining forces and profiting from one another’s experiences.

1. Since 1998, Stony Brook has made AIDS the focus of undergraduate courses, such as “AIDS and the Social History of Medicine,” “AIDS, Race and Gender in the Black Community,” “The Economics of AIDS.”

Since 1999, we have included high school students (generally from low income minority neighborhoods with high HIV+ incidence) in these classes. Tuition and fees are donated by the Provost’s Office. Our program has served as a national model, supported by United States Centers for Disease Control funds. This academic year, we expanded our outreach efforts to include clients and staff of the AIDS Service Center of New York City (ASC) in our group of college and high school students. ASC is a community organization in existence since 1990 that provides services for HIV/AIDS-affected individuals. Total class enrollment is 45. Our reported results are based on anonymous questionnaires on attitudes about AIDS in society, and by opinions expressed in class discussion and written work. Our conclusions are as follows: a. Just as high school and college students discover themselves as agents in relation to the AIDS pandemic and recognize the possibility of offering leadership within their communities, so ASC members enrich our understanding of HIV/AIDS and perceive for themselves the possibility of earning a college degree. b. Just because clients and staff of ASC live and work with HIV/AIDS, they are not immune to societal prejudices about the epidemic [e.g. it is caused by moral breakdown, etc.]

2. Colleges and Universities are in a unique position to work with community organizations. This work can be greatly enhanced by adding an international perspective: Models for cooperation in one country can provide examples that improve the work of others. The realities of problems in other parts of the world and the struggle for solutions can enrich the educational experiences of all who participate in the exchange. The author proposes establishing an international consortium of educational institutions that are involved in community-based HIV/AIDS work, with the eventual goal of writing grant proposals for conferences and educational exchange among students and faculty. Universities should move out of the ivory tower and work closely with high schools and AIDS service organizations for mutual benefit.

About Helen Rodnite Lemay

Helen Rodnite Lemay has been a member of the Stony Brook History Department since 1970. Her rank is Distinguished Teaching Professor. She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University, New York. Her publications are in the fields of medieval medicine, medieval science and philosophy, and teaching AIDS. She has directed a University/Community program on HIV/AIDS since 1998, funded by the US Centers for Disease Control. She has presented papers on this program in Mumbai India, Granada Spain, Dubai UAE, and various conferences in the USA.

About Lynn. D. Salvage

Since 2001, Lynn has served as President of Briarcliffe College in Patchogue, New York, the Sanford Brown Institute of New York City, an institution that offers programs in the Allied Health professions, and the Katharine Gibbs School in New York City, an institution with 1,800 students. All three of these institutions enroll a large percentage of inner-city minority students.

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