New London ― Students in the Theater of the Aids Epidemic course at Connecticut College on Wednesday visited the AIDS Memorial Quilt exhibit they had helped erect earlier in the week.

Virginia Anderson, associate professor of theater and organizer of the event, plans to bring the quilt to Connecticut College every four years so that all students have an opportunity to experience it.

She said it was last at the school in 2018.

“There is so much we can learn about compassion from the quilt,” said Anderson, “for those lost as well as for those left behind.”

The full AIDS Memorial Quilt, which was started in the late 1980s, weighs 54 tons and composed of more than 48,000 panels dedicated to more than 94,000 individuals who have died from AIDS.

Each year, the National AIDS Memorial brings sections of the quilt to 1,000 schools, universities, places of worship, corporations and community centers. On World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, sections of the quilt are displayed in communities across the country.

More than 70 panels are on display at Tansill Theater in Hillyer Hall from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. through. Sunday.

The display is free and open to the public.