Pride Month is a time to celebrate the wonderful creativity, talent, diversity, and incredible contributions of our LGBTQ2S+ and allied communities to MacEwan and our city’s vibrancy.
It’s also a time to come together as a community to honour and celebrate the important history and accomplishments of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and two spirit communities.
Our strategic vision, Teaching Greatness, recognizes our place in O-day’min, and our commitment to support inclusive excellence. I was so pleased to participate in the painting of MacEwan’s rainbow crosswalks and I am delighted to see our community contributing to the many celebrations occurring around the city for Pride month. I encourage you to take part in the projects and events that will celebrate and support the work of our LGBTQ2s+ community and allies.
I am personally looking forward to joining the very first Pride Night at the Edmonton Riverhawks game this Saturday. A portion from tickets sold at the MacEwan Bookstore will also support the Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity. You can also support the Centre’s work by purchasing a Pride pack with proceeds going toward the Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity. The Centre plays a key role in MacEwan’s commitment to supporting research, teaching and service work related to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression on campus and in the community. Investment in the Centre builds the next generation of leaders and invests in responsive scholarly work that reflects community needs and actions.
This past year, we have made progress in our efforts to build inclusive excellence across the institution. We have increased our collection of EDI data to build a greater understanding of the need for programs and services that reflect our diverse communities. This includes our staff demographic survey and new options for students to provide their pronouns, identify their sexual orientation, gender identity, visible minority status, ethnic background and any disabilities in their student information profiles.
MacEwan’s Pride Week in March saw the launch of The Edmonton Queer History Project which demonstrates how MacEwan faculty and students can create community-based scholarship that recognizes identified community needs. I encourage you to check out one of the guided bus and walking tours happening this summer that highlights this innovative work. It is fantastic to be working with the Edmonton Downtown Business Association and City of Edmonton whose support has made these tours free and accessible with American Sign Language interpretation.
I am inspired by the work of our staff, faculty and students to support and celebrate our diversity and provide inclusive spaces for dialogue and celebration. I hope you have time this month to join some of the many celebrations happening across our great city.
On behalf of the entire MacEwan community, I wish you all a very happy Pride Month! Hope to see you out at Pride month events.