About

The Yale AIDS Memorial Project (YAMP) is an alumni-led initiative to honor and document the lives of hundreds of men and women from the University who perished during the AIDS epidemic. YAMP will pay homage to the deceased—students, faculty, and staff—by creating profiles with their biographies and photos, along with stories from their friends and family. By telling the story of AIDS through the lens of a single institution, YAMP will make the epidemic palpable for a younger generation and help to stimulate an AIDS memory boom.

In all likelihood, more Yalies died of AIDS than died during World War II. Until now, however, no attempt has been made to memorialize or document Yale’s history with the AIDS epidemic.

Each profile on this site consists of photographs, a mini-biography, a list of extracurricular and post-graduate affiliations, and, most importantly, personal stories from friends and family. The site’s functionality approximates that of a social network, allowing users to search against a number of variables, including class year, group membership, and profession.

YAMP is a vast and ambitious collaboration of volunteers and supporters, and we’d love for you to join us.

The memorial goal: to provide a space for communities to mourn the deaths and celebrate the lives of affiliates lost to AIDS

The narrative goal: to tell the story of the epidemic to a national audience—and to convey its incredible scope—by tracing its impact on a single institution

The archival goal: to build an archive of primary source material to help historians reconstruct the history of the plague before it fades from memory

The public-health goal: to help prevent the virus from spreading by educating current and future students about HIV/AIDS

The technological goal: to demonstrate the role technology can play in elucidating and memorializing the past

Phase 1 (2011 – 6/2012) — Build infrastructure and workflow; create an initial set of profiles; culminate in the release of Volume I of the Journal 

Phase 2 (6/2012 – 11/2013) — Design, code and create the Website; build ranks of volunteers and staff; initiate at least ten profiles

Phase 3 (11/2013 – ) — Launch the Website and Shop; further build volunteer network; create an additional fifty profiles; achieve self-sustainability; organize a physical representation on campus

Phase 4 — Expand beyond Yale, working with universities and other institutions to create their own localized, narrative-based memorial projects 

If you are interested in volunteering or adding to a profile, please join us. Any and all other questions can be sent to info@yaleaidsmemorialproject.org.