In 1986 as the AIDS pandemic was escalating, the University of North Carolina system issued a mandate that each campus establish a task force to oversee HIV prevention education. The administration of this mandate at the School of the Arts was assigned to the director of judicial affairs and special projects. Throughout the last 12 years, HIV and AIDS prevention education has become the most active cocurricular program at the School of the Arts. The program's hallmark is its sense of duty, compassion, and outreach. The team's primary goal is to prevent the infection of HIV through education and personal involvement.
Students show love and dignity through their art, which is nonjudgmental and nondiscriminating.
In the beginning, there was a concern that the public's perception would be that primarily artists were being affected by the virus. This was in part because AIDS was first thrust into the public eye when such superstars as Rock Hudson, Amanda Blake, Liberace, and Freddie Mercury succumbed to the disease. It is true that early in the disease's history, students in the arts recognized that their role models were being struck down in their prime and, initially, this factor proved to be a motivation for students to join the team. These student projects have often gone into the local communities and have been met with immense appreciation and envy. Often, after performances at local schools, the reaction has been that the school's AIDS educators wished they could replicate the talent and support for such profound and creative programs.