This year's Gender Week, themed "Engendering Possibilities," kicked off Monday with a lecture by Sarah Schulman, one of the keynote speakers.
Schulman, an activist, historian and acclaimed novelist, spoke to a small audience of students and faculty about the importance of taking action and working toward change when dealing with the issue of AIDS.
Schulman told stories about her experiences as a founder of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), and presented video clips from a documentary based on her organization, called United in Anger. Through the stories and clips, Schulman showed the audience that it's possible for anyone with dedication to create change.
"A lot of people in this country want change, but they don't know how to create it," she said. "Regular people can change the world, but they can't do it alone. They need each other."
Schulman, who was once a city-hall reporter for The New York Native, founded ACT UP in 1987, when AIDS was first brought to the national forefront. Because of her position as a reporter, she remembers the start of the fight for AIDS legislation.
"I covered the beginnings of social services for AIDS. I was there for the first court hearings," she said. "I feel I have a certain privilege and responsibility having watched all this unfold."
Between 1982 and 1987, after AIDS was identified but before it became a political issue, social service groups for gay men were formed and limited medical research began. However, according to Schulman, those with AIDS were essentially an abandoned group of people, and the public largely ignored the issue.
"There had to be a political movement," she said.
Footage shown from the upcoming United in Anger film included a 7,000-person rally at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City in 1989 as part of the fight against AIDS. The rally was held in response to the Catholic Church's role in cutting sex education from New York City public schools. Schulman also showed clips of interviews with past ACT UP members.
Schulman also addressed questions about the present role of activism since the heightening of homeland security in recent years.
"Change is always possible in every cultural moment," she said. "People have to find tactics that will work for them."
Schulman expects the tactics of future generations to be based on an integration of technologies that people currently use every day.
"It's important to do what you can," she said. "That's the kind of person who does something: a regular person who rises to the occasion."
Students found the lecture to be a worthwhile experience but noticed that not many of their peers attended.
"It was really interesting. There are so many things I learned today that I didn't know before. I just wish this could have been a broader event, like the things done by SA," said Arleen Rosario, a senior Spanish and Latino studies major.
The format of the lecture was also a concern to students.
"It was very stimulating and made me want to do more research on the issues they spoke about, but I wish there could have been more open discussion," said Nina Gonzalez, a senior political science and English major.
Events that occurred earlier this week included a Liberation Bake-Off and a presentation on breast implants.
Remaining Gender Week events will address several other issues. The second keynote speaker, Sue Rosser, will present "The Science Glass Ceiling: Academic Women Scientists and the Struggle to Succeed" Wednesday, Sept. 26 at 2 p.m. in 330 Student Union.
On Thursday, Loriene Roy, the president of the American Library Association, will lecture on "Working in a Feminized Profession: How Others See Us, How We See Ourselves" at 2 p.m. in 250 Baird Hall.
For members of the Gender Institute, the lecture and the week of events are a positive reflection of the University. According to Susannah Bartlow, a graduate assistant at the Gender Institute, it is a step in the right direction for UB.
"It reflects UB's commitment to fixing the past and to keep looking and moving forward," Bartlow said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
