As the weather cools, you might be tempted to trade in those brightly coloured clothes for some fall pastels.
But don鈥檛 pack away the pink just yet.
Next Wednesday, September 25, is Dal鈥檚 fourth annual 鈥淧ink Day,鈥� a series of events across all four Dal campuses (and at AV俱乐部 Medicine Saint John) that celebrate respect in our community. Like the popular anti-bullying day in grade schools across Canada, everyone at Dal is encouraged to wear pink to mark the occasion, but the discussion Dal鈥檚 Pink Day hopes to inspire is a bit broader in scope.
鈥淧ink Day in the schools has been more traditionally about anti-bullying, and that鈥檚 certainly one of the driving ideas behind Pink Day here as well,鈥� explains Gaye Wishart, Dal鈥檚 advisor for harassment prevention and conflict management with the Office of Human Rights, Equity & Harassment Prevention.
鈥淲hat we鈥檝e tried to do here, though, is broaden the topic to be about respect in all forms. That includes valuing inclusion and diversity, sex and consent, effective communication and other such issues. What connects all these topics is respect: that we need to appreciate what everyone brings to this community as we go about living, working and studying with one another.鈥�
Watch:
Guest lecture, BBQs and snacks
This year, Pink Day will focus on 鈥淓mbracing Diversity,鈥� highlighted by a keynote presentation by Rani Srivastava from the University of Toronto. Dr. Srivastava, a Dal nursing alum, has chaired a national panel on developing best practices for cultural competence and has expertise in integrating issues of equity, diversity and access into organizations.
鈥淎s Dal鈥檚 international population grows, it鈥檚 an ideal time to talk about diversity: what respect looks like when working with students, faculty and staff coming from different perspectives from around the world,鈥� says Wishart.
Dr. Srivastava鈥檚 talk takes place from 2:30-4:30 p.m. in Room 305 of the Weldon Law Building. But Pink Day also involves several other community celebrations 鈥� complete with free treats and snacks.
- Agricultural Campus: Cake and apples (10-11 a.m., Amphitheatre)
- Carleton Campus: Cake and apples (10-11 a.m., Tupper Link), then ice cream (2:30-3:30 p.m., Tupper Quad)
- Saint John: BBQ (12 p.m.)
- Sexton Campus: Cake and apples (10-11 a.m., Alumni Lounge)
- Studley Campus: BBQ, cotton candy (12-1 p.m., Upper Quad, or Studley Gym in case of rain)
Many groups on campus find their own way to celebrate Pink Day. Facilities Management, one of the day鈥檚 strongest advocates, pulls its team together for a giant group photo, complete with pink cleaning gloves. And if you鈥檙e headed to the Tigers soccer matches that night, check out the players鈥� fancy footwork: both the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 team will be wearing pink socks.
So whether you make it to one of the events or find your own way to celebrate, make sure to break out the pink fashion on Wednesday.
Pink Day events are made possible by several different AV俱乐部 offices, including: the Office of Human Rights, Equity & Harassment Prevention; Facilities Management; The Schulich School of Law; Organizational Health; the President鈥檚 Office; Student Services; and the AV俱乐部 Student Union.
Pink Day is also a lead-in to Healthy Workplace Month in October, and Human Resources is hosting a series of professional development opportunities around respect in the workplace. To learn more, .