Story by Jonah Lossiah
Photos by Gabi Palacio
Graphics by José Valle
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Beams of light illuminated the three-decade-old quilt in the lobby of the Carolina Union.
This quilt honors several people who died of AIDS in the late 1980s, including Jeremy Trefney. Trefney got sick before treatment for AIDS was viable. When he passed away, his friends made a panel for the quilt. Trefney’s is one of. eight, and there are now over 48,000 such panels that have been made over the years.
The ceremony in the union included a discussion of different experiences of those living with HIV/AIDS. Elizabeth Trefney, Jeremy Trefney’s niece, and her family helped to organize this event that filled the union lobby.
“I looked up and I was brought to tears, but I knew my uncle wouldn’t want me to be sad,” Trefney said. “When you look at the quilt you see stories of life and love. When they shined the lights up, I read from the bottom of one of the panels, it said ‘love really is the answer.’”
The sophomore at UNC-Chapel Hill said that her interest in the support of HIV/AIDS comes from a course she took her first year – Public Health 420, The AIDS Course.
“When I went to that class I learned so many specifics, and so much about the history,” Trefney said. “I was just blown away. Because there were just so many lives that were lost. I had never once in a class, outside of this course in college, been talked to about the history.”
The class is taught by Ronald Strauss, and he brings in guest lecturers including Joseph Eron, a UNC Professor of Medicine and the Director of UNC’s Center for AIDS Research.
“Deaths from HIV are going down, so that’s a really good thing,” Eron said. “The problem is new infections. While they gone down a little bit, they’re still around 40,000 new HIV infections every year in the U.S. So it’s still a substantial problem.”
This is not the only course in the area. Duke’s biology program has a course on AIDS and Other Emerging Diseases, and ECU has class titled AIDS HIV Disease in Modern Society. Eron said courses like these are important because while HIV/AIDS isn’t talked about much on college campuses anymore, it’s still a problem.
“We’ve certainly documented that there have been outbreaks of HIV on college campuses in North Carolina,” Eron said. “We definitely see young people, who attend any college. I have patients in my clinic from N.C. State and UNC, so it’s definitely out there.”
Dr. Thevy Chai of UNC’s Campus Health Services also said that continued education of diseases is vital for college students because many lack the proper knowledge of the subject.
“I think when they come to college we need to educate them a little bit more about actual diseases, incubation period, when to retest, and that it’s OK to talk to your partners,” Chai said.
One issue with the education of HIV in recent years is the general lack of awareness for the disease. It has fallen out of the public conversation.
“I think people want to hear about something new,” Eron said. “I think that’s why it’s not as prominent in the media. I think the message here is that it’s still a problem. Especially in the Southeast where we live. That’s now where the majority of new HIV cases are, and most HIV related deaths are in the Southeast.”
These are things Elizabeth Trefney understand, and that is why she is trying to help. She knows how AIDS affected her family, and how it has left its mark on society. She says she feels like she’s bringing another voice to the conversation. She is someone who has not suffered with the disease, and her uncle passed away before she was even born, but that doesn’t mean she can’t care.
“I hope that someday I can be a spokesperson,” Trefney said. “I hope that I can help people start talking about these subjects and help them learn more.”
UNC-Chapel Hill sophomore Elizabeth Trefney lost her uncle Jeremy J. Trefney to AIDS. She now uses her art to memorialize her family's loss and to feel close to her late uncle.
