Quilt displayed on campus, helps increase AIDS awareness

Events kick off with unveiling, visit from RENT star

April 24, 2006 —

Last Monday's AIDS Memorial Quilt ceremony saw big names and a big crowd.

The Student Life Center was responsible for the event, which featured 20 panels of the quilt. The ceremony also featured acclaimed actor Anthony Rapp, star of RENT.

The night started off with a short speech from President Eric R. Gilbertson, who talked about a dear friend of his who was lost to AIDS. Following that, student Tori Oxley gave a brief introduction to the guest of honor, Rapp.

Most well known for his role on stage as Mark in the musical RENT, Rapp's fame has grown by leaps and bounds since the release of the film version of the play last winter. He's also a recording artist, author, and composer.

Rapp was asked to speak at the ceremony about his experiences with AIDS and what it was like to play the role of a lifetime. While Rapp does not suffer from AIDS, he has suffered the loss of many friends to the disease. These losses were a main point of his speech. A great deal of the speech was devoted to Jonathon Larson, the man responsible for writing RENT. Larson died right before opening night of an aneurysm. This year marks the 10th anniversary of his death.

Aside from promoting AIDS awareness, Rapp was also there to gain support for his new book Without You. The book is about his struggle with losing his mother to cancer and how it affected his work in the stage version of RENT. Most of Rapp's speech consisted of readings from the book. The selections were both powerful and almost bright, even though they dealt with some very sad issues.

Following Rapp's speech the members of Valley Voices, the gospel group, sang while the quilt panels were spread out.

With the speeches over, the audience waited in line to get an autograph from Rapp, who was holding a book signing. Rapp was very energetic and warm. He talked easily and at length with fans that approached him.

Other people milled about the various panels of the quilt, marveling at the work. The quilt is a startling array of colors and fabrics. No two pieces really go together, but all the panels become unified by their purpose.