“Orange Shirt Day is something that started 15 years ago or so in British Columbia,” explains Hilary Rose, associate professor in the Department of Applied Human Sciences. “It’s a day in recognition of residential school survivors.”
Through last year’s shuffle, Rose and her colleagues created the Orange Shirt Bursary for Indigenous Students. “We raised $3,000 last year and that $3,000 will be divided up into three $1,000 awards for the next three years,” she says.
Starting in fall 2018, the bursary is available to students that self-identify as Indigenous and are registered at Concordia’s Aboriginal Students Resource Centre.
“It’s a needs-based bursary to help students out as they’re finishing up their degree and they’re thinking, ‘Where do I find the money for this last semester?’” says Rose.
For Shuffle 29, Team Orange Shirt is hoping to raise another $3,000 to continue providing the bursary. As a fundraising initiative to support the cause, in September the team plans to sell orange shirt sugar cookies.
“I figured, if we could raise $3,000 last year, we can do it again this year,” Rose says.
The Gordon Dionne Memorial Fund