One Man’s Crusade to Prevent HIV Among College Students

ABC News on Campus reporter Matthew Nojiri blogs: As a 24-year-old at the height of the AIDS scare of the 1980s, Scott Fried made a mistake that has stayed with him for the rest of his life. Climbing the stairs of his partner’s New York City apartment almost 22 years ago, Fried searched his pockets for a condom and couldn’t find one.  He thought to himself, “I’ll use protection next time; I won’t get HIV. It’s not going to happen to me, I’m a frat boy.” After contracting HIV from his partner in 1987, Fried has been on a personal journey of redemption. Since 1992, he’s told his story at more than 500 colleges and high schools across the world, imploring college students to learn from his mistakes and practice safe sex. “When I first got infected I was 24, so I wanted to stop students from doing something stupid that I’ve already done,” said Fried, now 46.  “I have to do this for them, because nobody did it for me." Almost 18 years since he started lecturing to college students, Fried wonders if the message is sinking in. “Students aren’t scared of HIV anymore,” Fried said. “I don’t want them to be afraid but they don’t see that it’s a very real threat if they don’t protect themselves.” During a talk at Syracuse University on Wednesday, Fried asked the 250 students in the crowd if they had received education about HIV in high school.  Nearly everyone in the crowd raised their hands.  When he asked about the four fluids that transmit the virus (blood, semen, vaginal secretions and breast milk), only four knew the complete answer. “We are not the generation that really felt the AIDS frenzy,” said Marilia Matos, a 20-year-old SU senior who attended the event. “When you’re in college, you think you’re invincible.  HIV and AIDS are not things we think about.” The HIV epidemic has stabilized since the late 1990s, according to a 2009 report from the Center of Disease Control.  In 2007, there were 42,655 new HIV infections in the U.S, a 24 percent decrease from the previous year. During his speech, Fried narrated a five-minute slideshow about 40 of the 129 friends he’s lost to AIDS.  He also recalled telling his mother that he had tested positive for the virus.  “I never knew how blue my mother’s eyes were, until I told her my secret,” he said.  Fried expects to lecture students for at least another five years, but takes nothing for granted. Living with HIV has taught him the “value of hours not days.” And even if the fervor of the AIDS scare has passed, Fried continues on, carrying his message of safe sex from university to university. “Bowing my head in the valley of darkness and turning a curse into a blessing, that’s what this is about,” Fried said. “If I can get just a few students to use condoms and be safe, that is enough.”