The University of Calgary celebrated the beginning of Pride week with a flag raising ceremony at noon, August 31st at the south entrance of campus located at University Drive and 24th Avenue N.W.
The flag raising ceremony was hosted by the Office of Institutional Commitments in partnership with the Office of Partnerships which marks a decade since the university first sponsored the Calgary Pride parade and festival in 2015, according to the “UCalgary welcomes Pride” article.
The article states that the milestone highlights “the university’s sustained public support for rights and visibility.”
As previously reported by the Gauntlet, UCalgary was denied entry to march in the parade hosted by Calgary Pride due to the ongoing legal battle involving the removal of pro-palestinian protesters on campus in 2024. Individual student groups and associations are still permitted to march.
Among those in attendance, speeches were given by Jessica Zutz, a Senator at the U of C Dr. Sandra Davidson, Provost and Vice President Academic of the University of Calgary. Members of student leadership who were also present include Vice President of the Graduates Association, Wylie Pietsch, and Students’ Union Vice President Academic, Zoe Zeritsch.
“Every year, the university rings Pride Week in with a flag-raising ceremony. This represents the university's commitment to inclusion and diversity, and to continue to grow, learn and strive to be a place where everyone feels included and safe,” stated Zutz at the ceremony, “Thank you all for being here today as members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community and allies.”
Dr. Davidson emphasized Pride as a celebration of diversity, highlighting and acknowledging discrimination 2SLGBTQ+ communities continue to face.
“Please take this time this week to not only celebrate but also pause and reflect on what it means to create an inclusive campus environment and the work that we are engaged in to live into that,” said Dr. Davidson during her speech.
She also noted several organizations on campus which support and promote inclusivity for the 2SLGBTQ+ community such as the Q Center, Queers on Campus and the GSA's Gender and Sexuality Alliance.
Zeritsch praised the university for its efforts supporting the pride community stating she’s glad to attend an institution that values events like the flag raising ceremony and noted student effort in these events.
“We come together today not just to stop and marvel at how far we've come, but to consider how far we still have left to go. The path to project progress is fragile and fraught with setbacks, but this flag reminds us that no one travels alone. We are all here because we belong to or support the queer community,” said Zeritsch.
Pietsch noted that the UCalgary community on campus helped them find their community.
“It was here on campus I finally felt safe to be who I have always been. It was my own queer community, my found family, that allowed me to feel like I belong. Pride is the chance to celebrate our queer community. It is the opportunity to renew our hope for the year ahead,” said Pietsch.
They stated that their hope comes from people [those inside and supporting the 2SLGBTQ+ community] not the institution or leadership in the province.
“I know that over the past year, a lot of our queer community has lost faith in both our province and the University of Calgary leadership and as an institution. But I still have hope that the university can and will do better. So I call on the leadership at the University of Calgary to engage with the queer community in good faith to create institutional supports, systems, and policies that ensure 2SLGBTQ+ plus community on campus is not left behind, and to ensure that hate is not amplified on our campus,” stated Pietsch. “I have hope because of the queer students, faculty, staff, and our allies, when it was announced that the university would not be allowed to march in Pride this year, our queer community came together to ensure that Pride is still celebrated on our campus and with our community.”
2SLGBTQ+ resources for students can be found at various places on campus including the SU Q Centre, Queers on Campus and the Residence Rainbow Council.
