Campus Life

UWF Office of Diversity hosts lecture on HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention

The University of West Florida Office of Diversity will host Hydeia Broadbent, a public speaker and activist for HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, on Thursday, Nov. 29 at 6 p.m. in Building 36, Room 191. The lecture is the latest in the John C. Pace Jr. Symposium Series.

In her lecture, entitled “Knowing Your HIV/AIDS Status,” Broadbent will share her life story. She was abandoned at birth at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas, and adopted by Patricia and Loren Broadbent as an infant. Although her HIV condition was congenital, Broadbent was not diagnosed as HIV-positive with advancement to AIDS until she was 3 years old. She wasn’t expected to live past the age of 5.

Now 28, Broadbent has dedicated her life to spread the message of HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.

“I ask people to use my testimony as a warning of what you don’t want to go through,” Broadbent said.

The John C. Pace Jr. Symposium Series is designed to bring distinguished scholars, artists and leaders to Pensacola for lectures, performances and a variety of interactions with faculty, students, staff and the public.

The event is free and open to the public. For additional information, call the Office of Diversity at (850) 474-2920 or (850) 474-2813, or visit uwf.edu/diversity.