This post was authored by Lilly Norbeck, Unearthing Towson’s History Project student researcher, Summer 2024.
In 1981, a disease called the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, was discovered in Los Angeles. First identified in five gay men, AIDS became known as a serious condition characterized by a compromised immune system. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, attacks the immune system by killing the body’s T cells. Without these cells, individuals are more susceptible to illnesses and cancers.[1] The first cases of AIDS were discovered among five gay men, and after contracting pneumonia, two of the men died.[2] It did not take long for concerns about a deadly new disease which could kill generally healthy individuals to spread. The newly discovered disease made headlines nationwide and was swiftly associated with the gay community. By July 1981, major newspapers published articles about AIDS, calling it “Gay Men’s Pneumonia” or “gay cancer.”[3] HIV/AIDS is spread through contact with contaminated bodily fluids and can affect anyone. However, it became prevalent among gay and bisexual men as well as those who use needles to inject drugs.[4] In the early 1980s, a majority of those diagnosed with AIDS were white gay or bisexual men, although outbreaks among both men and women were identified in central Africa starting in 1983. The CDC reported that 41 percent of AIDS cases reported from 1981 to 2000 were acquired when a man had sexual intercourse with another man.[5] Stigma surrounding the disease was compounded by its connection to men who have sex with men. Despite its severity, it took years for AIDS to be adequately addressed by government and public health officials. The prevalence of homophobia in American society contributed to general ignorance of the disease.
Like the federal government, Towson State University’s administration also had a delayed response to the AIDS epidemic. In January 1984, Dr. Hoke Smith, the president of Towson State University (TSU), led efforts to expand the university’s health center. He proposed that the health center offer testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) because STDs were a “major cause of morbidity in the college age group.”[6] Roughly three years after the first cases of AIDS were identified, Dr. Smith and the president’s staff fail to mention AIDS in this proposal to expand the university health center. Nearly three years after the first cases of AIDS had been reported, the university lacked a cohesive public response to the epidemic.
No intensive effort to address HIV/AIDS at TSU appeared until June 1987. At this time, the Director of the Counseling Center at TSU, Charles Maloy, proposed the creation of a task force to educate Towson State students about HIV/AIDS. Maloy suggested that the task force should include a diverse array of students, including Black and white students, athletes, male and female students, and commuter and resident students. Notably, Maloy did not mention including gay or straight students despite the disproportionate number of gay and bisexual men with AIDS.[7]
In the late 1980s, TSU began to address HIV/AIDS more seriously. This came in the form of education, testing, and healthcare, led primarily by the Dowell Health Center and the new Presidential Task Force on AIDS. TSU offered bimonthly anonymous testing by the Red Cross in the Spring 1990 semester. By fall 1994, the Dowell Health Center independently offered HIV/AIDS testing for students and faculty four days a week.[8] As more effective treatments for HIV/AIDS developed, testing became critical in efforts to catch the disease early and begin treatment before it progressed. By the end of 1989, free, anonymous HIV testing was offered on campus through the Red Cross.
In November 1989, journalists representing the student newspaper The Towerlight interviewed Hoke Smith and the medical director of the Health Center, Dr. Jane Halpern, about HIV testing at TSU. Both emphasized the importance of getting tested to stop the spread of the disease. Halpern pointed out that early detection was key to preventing the “’serious manifestation of AIDS,’” demonstrating the concrete steps the university was now taking to slow the spread of AIDS.[9] Moreover, Halpern explained that many individuals were reticent to get tested for AIDS because the results would be recorded in their medical records. Even if the test was negative, potential employers could wonder why a job applicant was tested for AIDS in the first place. Consequently, testing for AIDS could have significant consequences on one’s career and livelihood. Halpern emphasized the importance of anonymous testing to avoid this sort of discrimination, as ‘“if testing can be done discretely, some people who were afraid to have the test done before would come to us.’”[10] Smith argued that “’by having this kind of testing on campus, we are heightening awareness of the seriousness of AIDS and encouraging precautions.’”[11] Towson State University officials were now publicly urging students to address the disease seriously and responsibly. While the university recognized the stigma surrounding AIDS, TSU officials did not openly discuss how homophobia affected the epidemic.[12]
Throughout the 1990s, Americans became more willing to discuss and address HIV/AIDS. This was in part due to a new strategy—highlighting how anyone could get HIV. While it is accurate that anyone can get the virus through contact with certain infected bodily fluids, the new approach to HIV/AIDS suggests continuing stigma surrounding the gay community.[13] To destigmatize the disease, many Americans sought to decouple it from the gay community rather than decrease prejudice toward gay individuals. At TSU, this phenomenon was exemplified by an AIDS Awareness Night event held in Scarborough Hall. A former student shared her experience as a woman living with HIV and emphasized how anyone could get HIV. Her message was integral in efforts to promote safe sexual habits among TSU students. However, the focus on how anyone can get HIV threatened to draw attention away from the issues the gay community faced. For instance, a March 1993 edition of The Towerlight reports on AIDS Awareness Week at TSU. Though The Towerlight reports that a student organization called the Diverse Sexual Orientation Collective (DSOC) helped organize AIDS Awareness Week, further discussion of the epidemic strays away from mentioning the role of the gay community.[14] Instead, the newspaper focuses on age as a risk factor for AIDS. Jane Halpern is interviewed in this edition of The Towerlight and emphasizes the importance of testing, though testing does not protect students against the virus in the future. Halpern instead suggests that students must “’break the habits that put them at risk’” to prevent AIDS.[15] The vague discussions of breaking bad habits and age as a risk factor veer away from any explicit discussion of how gay men and BIPOC at this point comprise a disproportionately large percentage of people with AIDS. Though the Dowell Health Center’s efforts “is changing people’s habits about sex and other risk activities such as drug use,” the university seemingly steered away from publicly mentioning the social implications of the epidemic in the early 1990s.[16]
The vague discussions of breaking bad habits and age as a risk factor veer away from any explicit discussion of how gay men and BIPOC at this point comprise a disproportionately large percentage of people with AIDS.
Even if the university maintained official silence on the impact of AIDS on the gay community, TSU students drew their own conclusions. Student organizations like DSOC pushed for AIDS awareness and education in the early 1990s, demonstrating that some students identified the epidemic’s disproportionate effects on the gay community and sought to rectify it. However, homophobia and prejudice persisted on campus. In 1996, the Center for Student Diversity (CSD) issued a survey on intergroup relations at Towson. The survey found that gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) students were twice as likely to be targets of teasing and sexual remarks than heterosexual students. Moreover, roughly 56 percent of GLB students were victimized in some way because of their sexual orientation, though many incidents against GLB students went unreported.[17]
Though the presence of homophobia on campus was not explicitly connected to the AIDS epidemic, the disease likely fueled anti-gay prejudice. The homophobia surrounding the AIDS epidemic became evident in a variety of incidents at Towson University. In 1986, an administrative assistant in the Center for the Arts reported that a sign that read “Stop AIDS, kill a f—” had been hung in a dorm window in Residence Tower A.[18] This incident exemplifies the how those with homophobic beliefs used the AIDS epidemic to espouse their prejudice.
Six years later, in March 1992, TSU student Hollie Rice was assaulted by an unknown man in the University Union after he made homophobic comments about an openly gay English professor named David Bergman. The man used a homophobic slur and claimed that “Dr. Bergman is trying to convert us all to homosexuality” and that “Hitler was great because he tried to kill off all these people.”[19] He also suggested that Bergman probably had AIDS because he was gay. When Rice defended Bergman’s right to teach, the man punched her in the face before leaving the scene. Not long after the incident, Rice received a letter that threatened the deaths of every woman and gay man on Towson’s campus and that “Rice would be killed if she persisted in involving herself in gay issues.”[20] Bergman had previously received threats for his work on gay literature and AIDS. The incident drew attention to LGBTQ issues on campus and exemplified how the AIDS epidemic was used to promote homophobic rhetoric.
Anti-gay attitudes continued to manifest in discussions of HIV/AIDS at TSU. In October 1994, The Towerlight published a student editorial by Stephen Battista, who argues that the federal government spent too much money on AIDS research and care, especially since AIDS was primarily contracted through “wonton irresponsibility.” The thinly veiled homophobia in Battista’s essay implies that men who have sex with men are inherently immoral and that their identities make them less worthy of medical treatment. Despite a series of incidents demonstrating how homophobia created a stigma around AIDS, the university steered away from mentioning gay rights in discussions of AIDS. But ignoring the issue did not erase it, and TSU ultimately recognized AIDS as not only a medical issue but a social one as well.
Despite a series of incidents demonstrating how homophobia created a stigma around AIDS, the university steered away from mentioning gay rights in discussions of AIDS. But ignoring the issue did not erase it, and TSU ultimately recognized AIDS as not only a medical issue but a social one as well.
Recognizing the social impact of HIV/AIDS was a long and arduous process. In October 1988, the TSU University Senate ruled that students, faculty, and staff could not be discriminated against because they had HIV/AIDS. In August 1991, the University System of Maryland adopted a formal non-discrimination policy on AIDS stating that students and faculty with HIV/AIDS could study and work at their universities as their health allowed. The new policy also emphasized the need for education.[21] Towson expanded efforts to educate its student body on AIDS. For instance, the Dowell Health Center employed health educator Betty Hollingsworth, whose work on AIDS transformed how the epidemic was viewed on campus. Starting in December 1993, she championed efforts to observe World AIDS Day at Towson. While testing remained central to the university’s approach to HIV/AIDS, Hollingsworth ensured that compassion and education became part of Towson’s strategy.[22]
The massive success of the Dowell Health Center’s walk-in testing program made Towson University a leader in AIDS prevention and awareness. These free, anonymous tests did not require patients to schedule an appointment, making them more accessible. In 2000, over 400 students utilized the Health Center’s HIV testing and counseling programs. The Health Center provided more than testing and medical support: it promoted tolerance, empathy, and understanding of people living with AIDS. By the late 1990s, Betty Hollingsworth put an AIDS quilt containing the names of individuals who passed away from AIDS on display in the Health Center.[23] This humanized those with the disease and brought the Towson community together.
It was not until the mid-2000s that the university began to outwardly address the disproportionate number of BIPOC and gay individuals who are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. In February 2005, Towson University observed National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, acknowledging the impact of the AIDS epidemic on the Black community.[24] In the 1980s, most AIDS diagnoses were for white men. However, by 1996, Black Americans accounted for most new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. Roughly 51 percent of those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the US from 2001 to 2004 identified as Black.[25] In contrast, just 12.2 percent of the US total population identified as Black in 2004.[26] This discrepancy points to unequal access to resources and healthcare in some Black communities. Towson’s 2005 observance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day acknowledged HIV/AIDS as an issue connected to racial justice.
Also in 2005, the Queer Student Union (QSU) at Towson University became actively involved in AIDS education efforts. In December 2005, the QSU and TU’s Committee on LGBT Issues put on an event called “The Normal Heart: An HIV/AIDS Event” to educate a diverse audience of Towson students about the disease. The university addressed how homophobia and prejudice fueled misunderstandings about HIV/AIDS and emphasized the need for tolerance and inclusion for the LGBTQ community and people living with HIV/AIDS. Throughout the first decade of the 2000s, the QSU was deeply involved in efforts to promote awareness of STDs to the student body and to encourage safe sex practices, such as the use of condoms. The QSU worked with the Health Center for National Condom Week, taking a more inclusive approach to sex education which addresses not only heterosexual and cisgender individuals but LGBTQ individuals as well.
By the early 2010s, concern about HIV/AIDS at Towson University declined. This was in part due to declining death rates, as new treatments allowed individuals with HIV to live longer lives. No longer a death sentence, HIV/AIDS became less of a concern for Towson students. At the Dowell Health Center, cases of HIV/AIDS declined, and fewer students received testing. By 2013, the Health Center still offered free HIV testing, though not many students took advantage of it. Students were also less aware of AIDS Week, which used to be a prominent event on campus.
Towson University has continued to offer resources for those affected by HIV/AIDS. Free tests for various STIs, including HIV, are offered through the Health Center’s partner organization, the STARTRACK Adolescent Health Program. Though the university no longer offers walk-in free, anonymous HIV testing through the Health Center, Towson students can still access education and counseling for HIV. For instance, the Health Center can prescribe a preventative medicine called pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to those at an elevated risk of contracting HIV.[27] Despite offering some counseling and treatment for HIV, Towson University’s HIV/AIDS program is not as robust as it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s. AIDS no longer dominates headlines as it did in decades prior, and other health emergencies have consumed the attention of the public. Still, this does not mean that HIV/AIDS has disappeared, either in the US or on Towson’s campus. While fewer students seek out HIV counseling and treatment at the Towson University Health Center, Towson University still provides sex education, safe sex resources, and medical resources to prevent HIV/AIDS. Four decades after the first cases of AIDS, Towson University remains transformed by the programs and projects it enacted to combat the disease and promote equity and social justice on campus.
Please visit the Health Center to learn more.
[1] Ann Pietrangelo, “A Comprehensive Guide to HIV and AIDS,” Healthline (March 16, 2023): https://www.healthline.com/health/hiv-aids.
[2] David Heitz, “HIV by the Numbers: Facts, Statistics, and You,” Healthline (April 24, 2020): https://www.healthline.com/health/hiv-aids/facts-statistics-infographic.
[3] “The HIV.gov Timeline,” accessed 1 July 2024, https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/overview/history/hiv-and-aids-timeline#year-1981.
[4] Heitz, “HIV by the Numbers.”
[5] CDC, “HIV and AIDS—United States, 1981—2000,” MMWR 50, no. 21 (June 1, 2001): 430-4.
[6] “President’s Staff Meeting Notes, January 1984,” Towson University Archives, Jan. 1984
[7] “President’s Staff Meeting Notes, June 1987,” Towson University Archives, June 1987.
[8] Amanda D’Wynter, “Pass of Fail: Testing Optional,” The Towerlight (Oct. 13, 1994): 8.
[9] Lisa Goldberg, “Red Cross Provides AIDS tests, students assured anonymity,” The Towerlight, vol. 84, no. 10 (November 9, 1989): 2.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid
[13] Help Stop the Virus, “Getting the facts about HIV,” Gilead Sciences Inc. (2023): https://www.helpstopthevirus.com.
[14] Diane LaMorte, “Tell Me Something I Don’t Already Know,” The Towerlight (March 11, 1993): 3.
[15] Corene Bruce “AIDS Virus Affects TSU Students,” The Towerlight (March 11, 1993): 22.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Center for Student Diversity, “Campus Climate Survey,” Towson University Archives, April 1996.
[18] Dawn Lyons, “Coming Out: Students seek acceptance of alternate lifestyles,” The Towerlight vol. 82, no. 24 (May 4, 1989): 1.
[19] Lisa Goldberg, “Student battered for supporting gay rights: Conversation in Union ends in violence, death threat,” The Towerlight (April 2, 1992).
[20] Ibid.
[21] University of Maryland System, “University of Maryland, College Park Policy and Procedures Concerning HIV Infection and Aids,” University of Maryland (August 1, 1991).
[22] Angela Edman, “World AIDS day to bring awareness to TU,” The Towerlight (November 19, 1998): 9.
[23] Michael Moritz, “Towson counselor keeps public aware of fight against a deadly disease through the AIDS quilt,” The Towerlight (January 30, 1997): 7.
[24] “Campus Calendar,” The Towerlight (February 7, 2005): 6.
[25] CDC, “Trends in HIV/AIDS Diagnoses—33 States, 2001-2004,” MMWR 54, no. 45 (November 18, 2005).
[26] USA Facts, “Our Changing Population: USA Facts,” USAFacts.org (July 2022): https://usafacts.org/data/topics/people-society/population-and-demographics/our-changing-population/?endDate=2005-01-01&startDate=2004-01-01& more | USAFacts.
[27] “Services,” Towson University Health Center (2024): https://www.towson.edu/healthcenter/services.html.