Ottawa University

 Taken Prisoner by AIDS
            Female Minister Speaks Candidly about Living with the Disease

OTTAWA, Kansas -   "You can't save lives with half-truths," said Rev. Rae Lewis Thornton, the guest speaker of the annual DeFries-Hostetter Cultural Event at Ottawa University (OU) in Ottawa, Kansas.  That is why she encouraged attendees to ask questions that "can't be too personal or too stupid" during both of her speaking engagements, February 28 and March 1, 2007, in the OU Chapel. Were both of them held in the chapel?

Rae's un-watered down message about getting, living with and preventing Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), was delivered with a big dose of humor that put her audience at ease with her, if not with her disease.   As she told of her traumatic and dysfunctional childhood, and of bad choices made from her desire to love and be loved, Rae clearly wasn't looking for sympathy or approval.  "I don't care if you like me or don't like me," she said.  "I am here for only one reason - to prevent you from getting AIDS."  She cautioned, however, that she really couldn't do that.  She stressed that each person is personally responsible for whether or not they put themselves at risk for the disease based on the choices they make.  "The consequences don't go away," she warned.  "You can't take back the sex."  She is a living example of that truth.

Despite an impressive resume of which she is very proud - a Master of Divinity, current doctoral studies, campaign work with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, an Emmy award, appearances on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" and ABC's "Nightline," as well as appearances on the cover of several magazines - Rae reminded her audience that all the education, all the notoriety, and all the nice clothes and shoes can't take away her disease or save her life.  "At the end of the day, I'm just trying to die with a little dignity.  AIDS makes that hard.  The stakes keep getting higher, and higher and higher.  AIDS takes prisoners," she said.

During the presentations, the very personal and candid speaker also told of her faith journey since contracting Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) 21 years ago and living with full-blown AIDS since 1994.  Years of denial, depression and pain forced Rae to turn to God and build on their "historical" relationship to deal with the reality of dying from AIDS.  She described the moment when God spoke to her heart.

"Rae, we have history," she remembers hearing.  "Our history is standing on something.  You were a drug baby; you survived.  You were raised by your deceased grandfather's alcoholic third wife; you were always my child.  You were sexually abused for 11 years; you didn't lose your mind.  You were homeless at 17; you never went hungry.  We have history, and it's standing on something.  I've kept you.  Don't you think I can handle AIDS?"   She said then she knew that He could, and He has.

Rae's presentations at OU were similar to those she makes around the country in an effort to educate our nation's youth and adult population about AIDS.  She uses her own life experiences to demonstrate that AIDS is a non-discriminatory disease, and challenges her audience members to take control of their health.

Prior to Rae's motivational speaking career, she served as Senator Carol Mosley Braun's 1992 Senatorial Campaign Advance Coordinator, was the Illinois State Youth Coordinator for the 1988 Dukakis Presidential Campaign, and was the National Youth Director for Jesse Jackson's 1984 and 1988 Presidential Campaigns.  Due to her failing health, she was forced to retire from her political efforts in 1993.

Licensed as a Baptist minister in July 2000 at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois, by the Rev. Clay Evans, Rae now serves as an associate minister with the church.  She received a Master of Divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary in June 2003 and was the recipient of the Arthur Hays Fellowship in Church History.  She is currently a PhD candidate at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago.

Rev. Thornton's visit to Ottawa University was funded by the DeFries Family Endowed Cultural Fund, which was established in 1999 by Dr. Stanley and Alice Jo (Hostetter) DeFries. The goal of the fund and annual cultural event is to host guest speakers who have contributed significantly to the social, artistic or cultural improvement of society.  Past speakers have included baseball legend Buck O'Neil, Senator George McGovern, and former FBI Director William S. Sessions.  Alumni of the University, Dr. and Mrs. DeFries have been closely tied to OU for over 40 years in teaching, administrative, and trustee roles. 

Founded in 1865, Ottawa University is a comprehensive, not-for-profit educational institution affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Ottawa University's educational mission brings together a residential campus in Ottawa, Kansas, and adult campuses in Overland Park, Kansas; Kansas City, Missouri; Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe, Arizona; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Jeffersonville, Indiana; as well as multiple international instructional sites.  For more information, visit http://www.ottawa.edu/.

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