Cleve Jones, who has dedicated the past 40 years of his life to advocating for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community as well as AIDS victims and union workers, visited campus Monday to talk to students about how they can promote social justice on campus.
About 150 students gathered in Cahn Auditorium to listen to the community organizer and former San Francisco politician, whose career took shape during the 1970s on the campaign trail and in the office of gay rights activist Harvey Milk - the first openly gay man ever elected to public office in the United States.
In the recent biopic “Milk,” starring Sean Penn, Jones was played by Emile Hirsch.
Jones’ visit to NU was sponsored in part by the Northwestern Community Development Corps, which organizes the Living Wage Campaign on campus – a movement to raise campus workers’ wages. Jones is also involved in fair wage and worker treatment advocacy. He currently works for the “Sleep with the Right People” campaign, which encourages LGBT travelers to stay in hotels where workers receive adequate compensation, affordable health care and equal treatment.
“Cleve is someone who is a very well-known figure because of the movie, and he’s an inspiration to students and young people who are getting involved in social justice work,” said Adam Yalowitz, co-chair of NCDC’s Advocacy Committee. “He appeals to a variety of issues, and it seemed like the perfect storm of interests on campus.”
After a brief introduction, Jones addressed an editorial that appeared in the The Daily last week, entitled “Living Wage Campaign wrong for Northwestern.”
“I thought that their editorial about the Living Wage Campaign was probably one of the most stupid, offensive things I’ve read in a college newspaper in a long, long time,” Jones said.
Jones said he enjoys spending time on college campuses and is particularly interested in the Living Wage Campaign because he has seen it succeed in other places.
He called the administration’s response to the campaign “immoral, arrogant and paternalistic.”
During his time on the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, Jones was among the first to acknowledge the AIDS epidemic, co-founding the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in 1983.
“By 1985, almost everyone I knew was dead or dying,” Jones said. “It was horrifying. People were cruel. And there was no progress and no response.”
In 1987, Jones founded the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, the world’s largest community arts project, honoring more than 80,000 men, women and children.
Students said Jones appealed to the audience on several fronts.
“I thought that the widespread nature of the AIDS pandemic was the most touching,” said Tristan Powell, a Communication sophomore. “I was worried that they were going to use him solely for Living Wage Campaign, but that didn’t happen.”
Some workers involved with Living Wage Campaign attended Jones’ talk and expressed their support for his message.
“I feel that Cleve being here shows how significant this is for the NU community,” said Rafael Marquez, a food service worker in the 1835 Hinman dining hall. “I think it will motivate more of our future leaders to follow in the footsteps of people like him.”
The event was also sponsored by Peace Project.
The original version of this article was changed to include Peace Project’s participation in the event. It was corrected at 9:20 a.m. on Nov. 17.
