Written by Dowling Payne

Not only is red one of the colors that represent our Blazers, it also stands for AIDS and heart disease awareness.

On Monday, VSU HEROS and the VSU chapter of the National Council for Negro Women came together to host a red-themed event to promote HIV/AIDS and heart disease awareness.

The event was a forum and had guest speakers from the South Health District. After each presentation, there was a question and answer session and fashion show.

“I hope that people will become more aware,” Erika McCoy, VSU HEROS president and NCNW secretary. “These diseases can happen to anyone.”

McCoy not only helped come up with the idea for the event but also hosted it alongside fellow member Nevel Phillips.

“I just want people to know these diseases are preventable,” McCoy said. “Knowing about them is better than ignorance toward them.”

When first planning the event, she wanted to find knowledgeable and interesting speakers. In doing so, she found Traci Gosier and John Rogers from the South Health District.

Both speakers held a short presentation covering topics such as diabetes, heart disease, HIV/AIDS and the prevention of these diseases. Event attendees learned that the southeast has the highest number of HIV cases, more than a million people live with AIDS and there were 25,000 new cases in 2010 alone.

“Sexually transmitted diseases are a young person’s disease,” Rogers, said. He is the community HIV educator and has hopes of getting the attention of college students.

After the presentations, there was a fashion show featuring different shades of the color red. The show featured three mini shows. First was the “Black and White Affair,” featuring title-themed clothing; next was a vintage show; and last was “Stand up and Fight” which featured the models rocking their favorite red clothing item.

Tekeyah Martin was in attendance with a few friends and fellow members of the VSU HEROS.

“I came to support my friends, but I learned that testing is the best thing you can do,” Martin said. “It’s a necessity.”