It is almost too easy, in the age of PrEP, free contraceptives and a culture of routine sexual health testing, to forget how utterly terrifying the AIDS crisis was for young people. From the 1980s until the mid-2000s in the UK, when new infections and deaths from AIDS began to noticeably decline, young gay men in particular were being decimated by the disease. The Varsity archives provide a sobering reminder of just how prevalent the issue was in Cambridge until very recently.

“Don’t just hope – GET THE FACTS”

The listings page of Varsity editions from the 1980s up to the 2000s all contain the same quiet advertisement: “Don’t just hope – GET THE FACTS”. This unassuming ad, juxtaposed with neighbouring weekly reminders for college ents, is a very visual reminder of the duality of student social life. The ad’s reoccurrence across decades of Varsity editions is telling: AIDS remained a persistent, and highly uncomfortable, issue for students.

“In practice, we must recognise that HIV does not respect a good set of A-levels” reads one Varsity editorial from the 1990s. This statement is less absurd than first appears. Cambridge’s culture of exceptionalism proved a considerable barrier to effectively raising awareness of HIV and AIDS among Cambridge alumni. Varsity ran an interview with Peter Wise in 1990, a Christ’s College alumnus from 1982 who was diagnosed with HIV three years after his graduation. He recounted, in the interview, that he thought that “people who went to Cambridge did not get HIV”. Wise noted the loneliness of his diagnosis – he knew of no other HIV+ Cambridge graduate, though suggested that “by the law of averages alone” he must not be the only one.

In spite of his own openness, and the loneliness he experienced in the wake of his confession, Wise offered one clear piece of advice to other Cambridge students: “Stay clear of the establishment, they can do funny things and don’t need to know.” Wise was referring to University and college staff, and the potential academic and social repercussions of being openly HIV+. There is little to be found in the Varsity archives about the University’s response to the AIDS crisis; we can begin to infer a great deal from Wise’s interview, however. Like with a great many other social issues, the university was slow to adapt its antiquated outlook and provide effective support for its students. The price for Peter, and for so many others, was fatal.