RDP Celebrates Allyship with Pride Community

Mar 21, 2025
Two hands hold a progressive pride flag in the air, the sun shines through the semi-translucent fabric.

Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP), the Students’ Association and PRIDE on Campus Student Group are collaborating to support members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community through hosting a series of events during Pride Week, from March 24 to 29, 2025.

Festivities begin on March 24 at 9:30 am with a Pride Flag Raising Ceremony outside the main entrance of RDP’s main campus. Additional activities include:

  • a Pride Fair featuring opportunities to learn about the Pride community, as well as supports available for 2SLGBTQIA+ community members at RDP and in the surrounding community.
  • Pride pin-making and Dreamcatcher making
  • discussions and workshops that include topics such as allyship, intersectionality and 
    peer support
  • a Queer Prom where everyone is invited to join the party.

Week-long activities as part of Pride Week festivities include:

  • opportunities for people to make friendship bracelets & other Pride crafts in the Makerspace (in RDP’s Library)
  • writing a message to an individual’s younger self to be added to a patchwork quilt. Tables will be set up across campus to contribute messages to the quilt.
  • the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre on main campus illuminated in rainbow colours 
    each night
  • reading various books and resources available at RDP’s Library Book Display.

View a full listing of all events, including dates and times, open for everyone to attend.

"At RDP, we want to ensure that everyone feels safe to be who they are, without fear. The institution’s campuses belong to all of us and should be places where one’s personal truth is celebrated,” says Jacq Patterson, President of the Students’ Association of Red Deer Polytechnic. "Each individual within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community brings a unique perspective to our campuses. Their stories enrich our student body in ways that make us all better. The diversity of experiences and identities within the LGBTQIA2S+ community are essential. It helps us foster creativity, empathy and understanding, shaping a more inclusive environment for all of us."

A group of RDP faculty, staff and students gather outside the flagpoles where the Pride flag has been raised
RDP faculty, staff and students help to celebrate the raising of the Pride flag on March 24

“We are excited to co-host this series of Pride Week events with our partners in the Students’ Association,” says Lindsay Engel, Vice President, Academic and Student Success at Red Deer Polytechnic. “Together, we all play a role in creating a teaching and learning environment in which our students, faculty and staff who are members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community feel represented. Pride Week represents another opportunity on our campuses for meaningful dialogue and greater understanding among our Polytechnic community members to learn with, and from, one another.”

Red Deer Polytechnic supports members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community throughout each year, as part of RDP’s diverse community of students, faculty and staff, including celebrating Pride Month in June. The Polytechnic, Students' Association and PRIDE on Campus Student Group have partnered to host Pride Week in March (for the second year in 2025), recognizing that more students are studying on campus during this time of year than during the summer months. 

For more information about RDP’s ongoing commitment to creating an environment on its campuses where everyone feels welcome and supported, read the Polytechnic’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. 

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