Think pink next Wednesday

As the weather cools, you might be tempted to trade in those brightly coloured clothes for some fall pastels.

But don’t pack away the pink just yet.

Next Wednesday, September 25, is Dal’s fourth annual “Pink Day,” a series of events across all four Dal campuses (and at Dalhousie 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’s Pink Day hopes to inspire is a bit broader in scope.

“Pink Day in the schools has been more traditionally about anti-bullying, and that’s certainly one of the driving ideas behind Pink Day here as well,” explains Gaye Wishart, Dal’s advisor for harassment prevention and conflict management with the Office of Human Rights, Equity & Harassment Prevention.

“What we’ve 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.”

Watch: Dalhousie Street Team video, "What is Pink Day?"

Guest lecture, BBQs and snacks

This year, Pink Day will focus on “Embracing Diversity,” 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.

“As Dal’s international population grows, it’s 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,” says Wishart.

Dr. Srivastava’s 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 — 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’s strongest advocates, pulls its team together for a giant group photo, complete with pink cleaning gloves. And if you’re headed to the Tigers soccer matches that night, check out the players’ fancy footwork: both the men’s and women’s 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 Dalhousie offices, including: the Office of Human Rights, Equity & Harassment Prevention; Facilities Management; The Schulich School of Law; Organizational Health; the President’s Office; Student Services; and the Dalhousie 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, visit the Employee and Organizational Development Events Listings.