Student Global AIDS Campaign
Encyclopedia
The Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC) is an advocacy group with more than 85 chapters at high schools, colleges, and universities across the United States. The group is committed to bringing an end to HIV
and AIDS
in the U.S. and around the world, and uses a wide variety of tactics to achieve its goals, including education on campuses, letter-writing and calling campaigns to decision-makers, public demonstrations, media work, and other activist tactics.
The organization often describes its mission in the short hand 'Fund the Fight, Treat the People, Drop the Debt, Stop the Spread'. The fuller vision statement is: "We envision a world in which AIDS is no longer a death sentence, in which economics and geography do not determine access to life-saving drugs, and where every woman, man, and child has the knowledge, means, and rights to protect her- or himself from infection." The campaign has therefore pushed for access to antiretroviral drugs, the elimination of third world debt, reform of global trade rules, and access to condoms.
, were founded simultaneously by students at Harvard and the Kennedy School of Government who saw the untapped potential of students to advocate political and social change on global HIV and AIDS and other issues of global justice
. Global Justice became officially incorporated as a 501 (c)(3) organization, with the Student Global AIDS Campaign as its first campaign.
The first conference was a New England regional conference hosted by Harvard in the fall of 2001. That spring and the next fall regional conferences were also held at Indiana University
, the University of Wisconsin–Madison
, and Williams College
. In the spring of 2003, SGAC organized its first national conference (hosted by George Washington University
), which was attended by more than 500 students from around the country.
As SGAC’s chapter base has grown so has its capacity for effective advocacy. SGAC’s first large rally was held in Boston in the spring of 2002 to demand that Senator John Kerry
(who had declared himself the Senate AIDS leader) significantly increase the amount of funding for the Global Fund in the bill he was then writing.
, Paul Farmer
, and ACT UP
co-founder Eric Sawyer, as well as students from each of the group's campaigns. There is also an emerging alumni group of previous leaders who have now graduated.
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
and AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
in the U.S. and around the world, and uses a wide variety of tactics to achieve its goals, including education on campuses, letter-writing and calling campaigns to decision-makers, public demonstrations, media work, and other activist tactics.
The organization often describes its mission in the short hand 'Fund the Fight, Treat the People, Drop the Debt, Stop the Spread'. The fuller vision statement is: "We envision a world in which AIDS is no longer a death sentence, in which economics and geography do not determine access to life-saving drugs, and where every woman, man, and child has the knowledge, means, and rights to protect her- or himself from infection." The campaign has therefore pushed for access to antiretroviral drugs, the elimination of third world debt, reform of global trade rules, and access to condoms.
Major events & recent successes
- "Kick Coke Off Campus": SGAC joined with other AIDS activists to pressure Coca-ColaCoca-ColaCoca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
to treat its HIV+ workers in its African bottling plants - Bake Sale for the Global Fund: where SGACers sold brownies for $1 billion in front of representatives' and senators' offices to try to raise the money Congress wasn’t giving to the Global Fund
- 04.Stop.AIDS: a loose network of HIV and AIDS activists, many of them SGACers, who went to presidential candidates' events and asked pointed questions until every Democratic PartyDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
candidate adopted a progressive platform on global AIDS (President George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
refused to talk with the activists or allow them into events) - Student March Against AIDS: on February 26, 2005, SGAC held the second largest HIV and AIDS mobilization in U.S. history. More than 4,000 students and young people from around the country ralied together in DC for the Student March Against AIDS.
- Gilead Sciences Corporate Campaign: in spring 2006, SGAC took on its second corporate campaign, this time targeting the marketers of second-line AIDS drugs who had failed to make those medicines accessible to lower and middle income countries. The company Gilead SciencesGilead SciencesGilead Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes therapeutics. For many years since the company was founded, the company concentrated primarily on antiviral drugs to treat patients infected with HIV, hepatitis B or influenza. In 2006, Gilead acquired two...
eventually made major consessions to make its drug Tenofovir more available and allow generic competition. - In the fall of 2006, SGAC began an expanded campaign focused on pushing for Universal Access to AIDS Treatment by the year 2010.
History & founding
In February 2001, the Student Global AIDS Campaign and its parent organization, Global JusticeGlobal Justice (organization)
Global Justice is a US-based NGO, founded in 2001 at Harvard University by undergraduate and graduate students. With several different issue campaigns, the organization has chapters on over 15 high school and college campuses across the country.-Mission:...
, were founded simultaneously by students at Harvard and the Kennedy School of Government who saw the untapped potential of students to advocate political and social change on global HIV and AIDS and other issues of global justice
Global justice
Global justice is an issue in political philosophy arising from the concern that the world at large is unjust.-Context:The broader philosophical context of the global justice debate, in both its contemporary and historical forms, is the issue of impartiality...
. Global Justice became officially incorporated as a 501 (c)(3) organization, with the Student Global AIDS Campaign as its first campaign.
The first conference was a New England regional conference hosted by Harvard in the fall of 2001. That spring and the next fall regional conferences were also held at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
, and Williams College
Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...
. In the spring of 2003, SGAC organized its first national conference (hosted by George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
), which was attended by more than 500 students from around the country.
As SGAC’s chapter base has grown so has its capacity for effective advocacy. SGAC’s first large rally was held in Boston in the spring of 2002 to demand that Senator John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
(who had declared himself the Senate AIDS leader) significantly increase the amount of funding for the Global Fund in the bill he was then writing.
Structure
SGAC is a youth- and student-led organization organized into chapters based at high schools or universities. There is a national Steering Committee (SC) of students from across the country. Elected by SGAC members for one-year terms, SC members deal with the day to day operation of the campaign and fill roles ranging from media coordination to outreach work. Decisions are made by consensus.The Steering Committee 2008-2009
| Name | Position | School | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will Nevius | National Student Organizer | Willamette University Willamette University Willamette University is an American private institution of higher learning located in Salem, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest university in the Western United States. Willamette is a member of the Annapolis Group of colleges, and is made up of an undergraduate College of Liberal Arts and... |
will.nevius@fightglobalaids.org |
| Caiti Schroering | Chapter Development Coordinator | Denison University Denison University Denison University is private, coeducational, and residential college of liberal arts and sciences founded in 1831. It is located in Granville, Ohio, United States, approximately 30 miles east of Columbus, the state capital... |
caiti.schroering@fightglobalaids.org |
| David Norton | Communications and Technology Coordinator | University of Oxford University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096... |
david.norton@fightglobalaids.org |
| Adeel Chaudhry | Partnerships Coordinator | Indiana University-Bloomington | adeel.chaudhry@fightglobalaids.org |
| Chris Platano | Grassroots Action Coordinator | Willamette University Willamette University Willamette University is an American private institution of higher learning located in Salem, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest university in the Western United States. Willamette is a member of the Annapolis Group of colleges, and is made up of an undergraduate College of Liberal Arts and... |
chris.platano@fightglobalaids.org |
| Rachel Gray | Policy Coordinator | Indiana University-Bloomington | rachel.gray@fightglobalaids.org |
| Michael Henrich | High School Coordinator | Lower Merion High School Lower Merion High School Lower Merion High School, is an American public high school in Ardmore, a community on the Pennsylvania Main Line.It is the larger of the two high schools in Lower Merion School District, which serves both Lower Merion Township and the Borough of Narberth. It was ranked among the top 60 U.S. high... |
michael.henrich@fightglobalaids.org |
| Alexsis Regan | New England Regional Organizer | Saint Michael's College Saint Michael's College Saint Michael's College is a private, residential liberal arts Catholic college. The campus is located in Colchester, Vermont. It was founded in 1904 by the Society of Saint Edmund, a French order of Catholic priests.-History:... |
alexsis.regan@fightglobalaids.org |
| Jeremy Crowe | Southeast Regional Organizer | University of Memphis University of Memphis The University of Memphis is an American public research university located in the Normal Station neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee and is the flagship public research university of the Tennessee Board of Regents system.... |
jeremy.crowe@fightglobalaids.org |
| Madeleine Amdur | Midwest Regional Organizer | Denison University Denison University Denison University is private, coeducational, and residential college of liberal arts and sciences founded in 1831. It is located in Granville, Ohio, United States, approximately 30 miles east of Columbus, the state capital... |
madeleine.amdur@fightglobalaids.org |
| Angela Bingham | Western Regional Organizer | Willamette University Willamette University Willamette University is an American private institution of higher learning located in Salem, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest university in the Western United States. Willamette is a member of the Annapolis Group of colleges, and is made up of an undergraduate College of Liberal Arts and... |
angela.bingham@fightglobalaids.org |
Global Justice
The Student Global AIDS Campaign's parent organization, Global Justice, is also home to other student-led campaigns on global trade and child survival. Global Justice also employs the staff that work on the Student Global AIDS Campaign, including a full time national organizer, a shared executive director, and support/communications staff. Global Justice is governed by a board of directors which has included such activists and intellectuals as Jeffrey SachsJeffrey Sachs
Jeffrey David Sachs is an American economist and Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. One of the youngest economics professors in the history of Harvard University, Sachs became known for his role as an adviser to Eastern European and developing country governments in the...
, Paul Farmer
Paul Farmer
Dr. Paul Edward Farmer is an American anthropologist and physician. He is currently the Kolokotrones University Professor at Harvard University, formerly the Presley Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an attending physician and Chief...
, and ACT UP
AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power
AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power is an international direct action advocacy group working to impact the lives of people with AIDS and the AIDS pandemic to bring about legislation, medical research and treatment and policies to ultimately bring an end to the disease by mitigating loss of health and...
co-founder Eric Sawyer, as well as students from each of the group's campaigns. There is also an emerging alumni group of previous leaders who have now graduated.