AIDS

Fear and AIDS

In February 1987, The Student Life published a four-page spread titled “Fear and AIDS”. The spread was the first large-scale segment addressing the AIDS epidemic in The Student Life. Included in the spread were a variety of articles engaging with AIDS and ‘homosexuality’ - some informational, and some opinion-based. The center columns features a statement of the Six-College Policy on AIDS, a campus-wide initiative led by college administration and students to de-stigmatize AIDS and educate students. An article written by Bruce Hall titled “Living With the Threat of Death” is the only one written by an identified queer person. Other articles address the political, social, medical, and legal implications of the AIDS Crisis. One of the largest pieces is a collection of statements by Pomona students on their thoughts regarding AIDS, homophobia, ‘homosexuality’, and contraception. These recounts reinforce notions that, on the Claremont Colleges campus in 1986, ‘homosexuality’ was generally seen as a “distortion of sexual desire,” but simultaneous a “personal matter” that should not be the cause of discrimination.

Alex Linder + Letters to the Editor

Included here is one article written by Pomona alumnus Alex Linder during his time as a student, who is currently the owner-operator of Vanguard News Network: an antisemitic, white separatist, white supremacist, neo-Nazi, Holocaust denying, fascist, and white nationalist website. Linder’s two pieces use unfounded notions of supposed science, fact, and tradition to dehumanize and attack the queer community, specifically in relation to the AIDS epidemic. Linder’s frequent contributions to TSL stand out as especially discriminatory, violent, and explicitly hateful, and the often pages of responses to his pieces highlight some of the rare occasions in which allies of the queer community took a stand to advocate for queer folks on paper.

1992 AIDS Benefit Dance

On November 6th, 1992, an article titled “L.A. Club Style Dance to Benefit AIDS Relief” appeared in The Student Life. The article, written by Aaron Isgar, advertises an event happening that weekend called L.A. Club Style, a “Dance and Arts Extravaganza” put on by the Student AIDS Awareness Committee. The night promised to

bring the glam and excitement of a night out in Los Angeles right to Pomona’s campus, at the Coop. Included in the agenda was a Dance-a-thon, an artwork installation featuring pieces by faculty and students, informational booths and materials, and a special appearance and giveaway by POWER106, a popular L.A. radio station. Organizers of the event expected to raise as much as $15000 from fundraising efforts at the event.

One week later, on November 13th, 1992, an article titled “AIDS Benefit Rocks Coop” appeared in the TSL, outlining, as the title implies, the successes of the night. The event boasted an attendance of almost 800 students from across the Clare- mont Colleges. Although exact amounts had not yet been calculated, organizers of the event shared that somewhere between $7000-$8000 had been raised, and would be split evenly among the Foothill AIDS Project, the Inland AIDS Project, and the Student AIDS Awareness Committee. The night was purportedly a great success, with the fashion-show, Dance-a-thon, and student artwork being cited as especially enjoyable.

Wall Wars

Included in this section are two pieces from 1988 and 1989. The first, published on April 21st, 1989 is a short news briefing outlining recent ‘wall wars’ taking place on Walker Wall. Walker Wall is a free-standing wall at Pomona College on which students are free to paint anything, creating a space for folks to express their opinions artistically and anonymously. Historically, it has been complicit in polarizing various groups on campus, as the promised anonymity enables painters to display their most extreme thoughts and opinions. Although the College claims to condemn hate speech or art that places anyone in danger, Walker Wall has historically been used for both the promotion of some opinions, and the silencing of others. The second article included here, published on September 30th, 1988, is titled “Men Find Support in Organization.” This piece - which would surely be read as parody in today’s TSL - describes two new organizations on campus that have been created to help support men in light of the growing presence of feminism on campus. Of the two groups, Alive and Male and the Pomona Men’s Club, the former alleges to “ease the tension of manhood in an increasingly feminist environment” while the latter claimed to “offer an alternative to feminist propaganda and to help promote traditional male values.”

Further Writing on AIDS & Homophobia in The Student Life

Included here are other articles published by The Student Life from the years 1988-1992 that address and en- gage with the AIDS epidemic. These articles are few and far be- tween, and their presence here is a result of months of archi- val research conducted by our class. While we encourage criti- cal thinking, close readings, and a focus on these chosen

pieces for the sake of this conference, we would like to ac- knowledge that, as indicated by our research, the Claremont Colleges and The Student Life enabled an often harmful and dehumanizing response, or rather lack thereof, to the AIDS epidemic and HIV+ queer folks. We have also included other TSL articles of note, published between 1980-1989 that, in some way, engaged or appeared to engage with queer folks and identities in campus, including topics like homophobia, feminism, awareness, activism, politics, and opinions.