May 26, 1991

Founding co-chair of the American Foundation for AIDS Research Dr. Mathilde Krim delivered the 1991 Commencement address. Krim spoke about the lessons learned from the AIDS tragedy, saying, “From our flawed and slow national response to AIDS, we ought to learn that in a democracy, the government rarely leads. It must be the people, we the people and voters, who must lead and make the government act through the legislative and appropriations process that make things happen.” She noted that, “AIDS teaches us that we must never let our innate sense of what is fair and just be dulled, that we must participate in the political process to make our opinions heard, and that, when necessary, we must exercise our right and civic responsibility to express indignation, to protest and even to engage in civil disobedience.”

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