Pink Shirt Day

Each February Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus helps paint the town pink in light of Pink Shirt Day, as the community takes a stand against bullying.

With modest beginnings, Pink Shirt Day began in Nova Scotia when two students distributed pink shirts to their schoolmates in an effort to stand up against the bullying of a classmate who wore pink. It has since transformed into an international movement.

From February 22 - 27, through the partnership of Coast Capital Savings, the campus activated a pink backdrop located on the windows at podium 3 above the Mezzanine, encouraging all students, staff and faculty to show their support for this special day and take a stand against bullying. The backdrop drew many from the campus community who took time out of their days to snap photos and share them online with the hashtag #PinkItForward. For each hashtag #PinkItForward used this month, Coast Capital Savings donated $1 towards CKNW Kids’ Fund Pink Shirt Day.

Many thanks to SFU alumna Rachel Dick and Kassandra Mihaly from Coast Capital Savings who made this activation possible.

In fact, over the course of time, many SFU alumni and faculty have demonstrated their commitment to breaking the cycle of mistreatment and promoting anti-bullying:

-        Karen Learmonth – active speaker on Workplace Bullying

-        Trevor Knowlton – founder of Stop A Bully

-         Professor Hayley Watson – founder of Enso Education (specializing in creating curriculum content for schools about mental health and supporting anti-bullying)

-        Professor Jennifer Wong’s research

-        Prof.. Wanda Cassidy’s research on cyberbullying

-        Catherine Shaffer’s research on violence among youth

Beyond Pink Shirt Day, let’s continue to take a stand, create safe spaces and paint a bully-free zone throughout our community, all year long.