Students from Ball State University's chapter of the NAACP held the Infrared: HIV/AIDS Awareness Showcase on Saturday night.
About 100 students wore red and gathered in Pruis Hall to watch a showcase of talent that revolved around HIV/AIDS awareness and relationships. Students also were educated with statistics and facts about the disease's effect on the African-American community.
"We as an organization hosted this event not just as a means of entertainment, but this event is dedicated to change, empowerment and enlightenment. It is our hope that we can empower one person to get tested ... encourage one person to speak out," said Nitina Kolliesuah, vice president of the organization, said as she welcomed students to the event.
President Eden South said she believes the event went well.
"Our goal tonight was to inform the student population of the risk of AIDS and unprotected sex and I believe we did really well," she said. "And we probably would have wished for a little better turnout, however it went well."
Six acts graced the stage performing original pieces of work that ranged from poetry to song.
Sophomore telecommunications major Mike Major said his poem about HIV was inspired by the fact that Americans tend to overlook the epidemic.
"I feel like it's a big thing to push that AIDS and HIV is a big deal in America and sometimes I think we lose sight of that because [we think] the numbers are so high outside of the United States of America, which is contrary to everything else because our numbers are usually higher than everybody else's," he said. "So I think we get caught up in that and start to believe that AIDS is not our problem."
Students said they enjoyed the event and said they were surprised to learn about some of the facts presented at the showcase.
Brooke McNulty, freshman fashion merchandising and apparel design major, said she didn't know exactly how much HIV/AIDS affected the African-American community.
"I wasn't aware that many African-Americans were a part of the HIV epidemic," McNulty said. "So that was something I learned."
Freshman meteorology major Judah Smith said she thinks AIDS and HIV awareness is important to students and the African-American community because of ignorance of the disease.
"It's not a disease to play around with. People are so ignorant — meaning they don't really know — not ignorance in the sense that you're stupid, but you just are unaware. You're not informed," Smith said. "But if you're not informed, that means you're still susceptible, but if you are more informed it means that you actually become aware and you can take control over your own situations."
South said she believes awareness is important.
"I think a lot of people would rather not know [their status], but the thing about it is that it's so important because it affects [the African-American] population."
South said future plans for the Ball State chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People include more HIV/AIDS events this semester that will follow the youth and college chapter of NAACP's theme of promoting HIV/AIDS awareness.
The next event the organization has planned for this semester is free HIV/AIDS testing on Feb. 25 in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center's Orr and Pineshelf rooms from 10 a.m to 3 p.m. The testing will be co-sponsored by Gamma Phi Omega sorority.
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