Loyola Greyhound

Issue date: 11/13/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Kevin Smith HIV/AIDS activist Hydeia Broadbent delieverd the keynote speech to wrap up Loyola's Week of Dialogue. The SGA put together numerous events to raise social awareness on campus.

On Thursday, Nov. 8, HIV/AIDS activist Hydeia Broadbent delivered the keynote address of the SGA's Week of Dialogue to dozens of students in McGuire Hall. Ms. Broadbent, only 23 years old, has been living with AIDS for her entire life, as the virus was passed to her from her birth-mother. For most of her life, she has been speaking publicly about HIV/AIDS awareness and tolerance, promoting safe sex and showing people that just having a disease does not change who one is as a person.

It was an engaging talk that was especially relevant to a college audience because of the speaker's age. The concept of HIV/AIDS was not discussed in mere theory because Ms. Broadbent deals with its stark reality on a daily basis.

She related her personal story to the Loyola audience in unflinching detail, from how her adoptive parents taught her to not hide who she was from others to how she deals with the tests, treatments, and medications that come with being an AIDS patient.

She became emotional at a few points in her talk, but never more than when she was talking about other people. She does not put herself in the public eye for personal gain, but truly to help others.

Ms. Broadbent pointed out early on that AIDS is not a disease that is confined to specific populations in this country-it has an effect on all kinds of people. She also spoke of the intolerance that she and others face from people who do not understand how people may have been infected or how the disease can or cannot be transmitted. When asked about the most significant misconceptions that people have about HIV/AIDS, Ms. Broadbent replied that "People think that it is a dirty person's disease," implying that having the disease always says something about a person's lifestyle.

She did still stress that the choices one makes regarding sexual health are vitally important. She urged Loyola students to practice safe sex and to be open and honest with partners.

Broadbent explained how she is used to the daily hardships of living with AIDS, but that someone who has gone 20 years without them would have their life change in a much more significant way. Life is not over because of HIV/AIDS, thanks to modern medicine, but it will be very different.

It requires a great deal of medication to fight HIV/AIDS every day, and Ms. Brodbent was sure to drive this point home to the crowd in McGuire.

She mentioned that she was one of the lucky ones because she has state-sponsored health insurance that covers the cost of her medicine, something that many others are forced to do without. Private health care insurers do not have to accept an AIDS patient because of the financial hardship that such patients would place on them-the cost of an average month of medicine can be in the thousands of dollars.

Broadbent's talk to Loyola students was different from the average discussion of HIV/AIDS because of the personal element she brought to it. She was able to explain the realities of the disease and the effects it has on her life, which helped her to convey the problems of discrimination and ignorance that are often involved in the HIV/AIDS discussion.

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