In college, Joel Goldman was president of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity chapter at Indiana University and partied with reckless abandon.
Today he blames the experience for leaving him HIV-positive.
From that standpoint, Goldman discussed the dangers of sex while intoxicated at an event for future fraternity and sorority members Wednesday night.
About 500 Greek pledges attended the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs-sponsored event at Meyerson Hall, which was mandatory for those going through new member education.
Goldman's photo montage of drunken college escapades inspired laughter toward the beginning of the evening.
But the audience quickly sobered up when Goldman arrived at what he called "the worst day of [his] life" -- the day he learned of his HIV diagnosis.
Though informed about the risks of unprotected sex, Goldman often let these concerns fall by the wayside when alcohol was involved, he said.
He added that he sees a similar pattern among college students today.
Despite being part of the most well-educated generation when it comes to safer sex, college students remain susceptible to sexually transmitted infections, Goldman said.
Such diseases are on the rise among young people, and half of all new cases of HIV appear in the 15 to 24 age bracket, he added.
College freshman Nathan Davis said the event was "nothing that we haven't heard before, but I think it was on a much more personal level."
Davis -- who is pledging Phi Kappa Sigma -- added that the speech showed that HIV "could happen to anyone."
Though he is concerned about the future, Goldman noted how far HIV awareness has come in the past 15 years.
In 1991, Penn was the first school to invite him to speak about HIV, and he sees the University's step as a major move for increasing AIDS awareness.
"If an Ivy League will have an AIDS program when other people weren't ... it really set the way for some other campuses," Goldman said.
For Director of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Scott Reikofsky, the goal of the event was to start discussion among students.
Peers can be much more effective than other in conveying the possible consequences of excessive drinking, Reikofsky added.
Ultimately, Goldman sought to stress the avoidability of his disease.
"I got [HIV] because of the choices I made," he said.
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