The Mason Spirit

Mondo Guerra

Just to keep you alumni up on what’s happening on your old stomping grounds, reality show celeb Mondo Guerra, or just Mondo, thank you (how couture!), will be on Mason’s Fairfax Campus most of this Saturday as part of the university’s HIV Awareness Week.

For you diehard Project Runway fans, the following couple sentences are rehash so feel free to glance at your iPhone or stroke your Chanel bag while I fill everyone else in.

Cheeky and stylish, Mondo rose to fame this year as the impish designer who wowed judges on the television show, Project Runway, with his colorful designs and endearing personality. Eventually finishing second on the program’s latest installment, Mondo also astonished viewers with his announcement on air that he is HIV positive, a fact he had not yet divulged even to his family.

Now basking in his newfound fame, the Denver native will be at Mason to use his celebrity to remind students that HIV has far from gone away. (An estimated 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV, with one out of every five those people not aware they are a carrier.)

From 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 4, at the Johnson Center’s Dewberry Hall, Mondo will discuss his journey with HIV, his experiences on the show, and what life has been like since it ended.

Then, beginning at 8 p.m. that same day, he will host the Rock the Runway fashion show for students at the same location, to be followed by an after party. Some of the designs that will grace the runway will be made from, well, how should I say this? Prophylactics. Come on, we’re all adults here: condoms!

Also as part HIV Awareness Week, the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display through Saturday inside the Johnson Center, a benefit concert will take place November 30 at SUB II, and free HIV screening tests will be conducted throughout the week.