Crowds of students flocked to Mesa Vista Hall on Friday for free HIV testing and prevention information during Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
The event was hosted at African American Student Services, and local activist Hakim Bellamy did much to promote the event through Facebook.
"Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day . (is) a nationwide rally, a day of action, and has been going on to battle AIDS," Bellamy said. "Because the African-American demographic, specifically African-American women, make up the largest amount of newly acquired AIDS cases in the nation."
Becky Smith of Americorp National Testing Services attended the event to help test students and inform them of the dangers of HIV.
"The CDC just put out a report that over 20 percent of people worldwide have HIV/AIDS and don't even know they are affected," she said. "To just have people stepping out and getting tested so that they know their status is really important, especially on a college campus."
According to BlackAidsDay.org, black people account for more than 49 percent of new HIV/AIDS cases, though they account for just 13 percent of the American population.
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The New Mexico Department of Health was on hand to help with pre-counseling and testing for students.
Bellamy said getting tested for HIV is not much of an inconvenience.
"The testing methods are so much easier now," he said. "It's an oral swab, rather than a blood test or urine. It's something that takes three minutes instead of 30."
Smith said more students showed up for testing Friday than anyone expected.
"The turnout has been busy - we actually got called in to help test due to the overflow of people," she said. "The event leaders weren't expecting this many people to want to get tested, which is amazing."
Stephen Roussel, also an HIV tester, said he was glad to see so many students aware of the need to get tested.
"It's super important for everyone to get tested," he said. "Statistically speaking, there are over 65 million people worldwide who are affected with HIV or AIDS."
Mistina Smith, director of African-American Hospital Services, helped co-host the event along with the African-American Student Services department.
"We did this event last year and plan to make it an annual event," she said. "The turnout has been great. We try to target a different population each year to get the information out there, and this year, we targeted this event for students, and so far we've had an awesome turnout - many people showing up to get tested and take literature and watching videos."
Bellamy said that if students missed the event, they should seek testing at other venues.
"Get tested. Even if you don't do it here, it's better to know your status, better to be safe than sorry," he said.
