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If you鈥檙e a Dal Health alum, chances are you鈥檝e met Andrew Pelrine (BA'10). Pelrine works in the Dean鈥檚 Office in the Faculty of Health, working with our many Schools and academic units to engage with their alumni whether with events, feature stories or reunions.

鈥淢y favourite part of my job is any time I get to be in person with our alumni. We do so much work online but being in the room with alumni is electric. It鈥檚 so great to hear their memories about their time here.鈥�

Pelrine also works with our generous donors to honour them and help bring their visions to life in how they want to support the Faculty.

When asked what an average day on the job is, Pelrine laughed and said with ten academic units there is no telling what the day will bring, but that鈥檚 what he loves about the job.

鈥淚 am learning, I鈥檓 not just doing something that is rinse and repeat. I love being challenged and having that experience. I don鈥檛 like being in stagnant water, the Faculty of Health is always flowing and ever-changing.鈥�

Bunni Lapin to centre stage

If you鈥檝e been to a drag show in Halifax, chances, are, you鈥檝e seen Bunni Lapin 鈥� Pelrine鈥檚 drag persona.

Pelrine has been doing drag as Bunni Lapin since he was 19. It wasn鈥檛 something he was always comfortable sharing about in his workplace, but now he not only shares about his events, but welcomes people to attend.

鈥淭he outpouring of support from my colleagues has been fantastic. If you want to have a good time, laugh and escape the world around us, that鈥檚 what my drag shows are all about.鈥�

Full circle

Pelrine is a Dal alum himself, with a Bachelor of Arts combined Honours Music and Theatre. One of his first drag performances was at the Grawood, and he continued to do many DalOUT events.

鈥淏ecoming a drag queen was embedded in Dal. If I didn鈥檛 have this experience to feel comfortable and be who I was in university I wouldn鈥檛 be where I am today.鈥�

After graduation, Bunni had an incredible drag career in Toronto before moving back home to Nova Scotia. Now, you can catch Bunni at local events including her .

Things have come full circle for Pelrine 鈥� coming out as an undergrad student at Dal and is now a member of the Steering (Queering) Committee in the Queer Faculty and Staff Caucus.

鈥淚鈥檓 so proud of being back and being part of that experience and supporting others on their journey now.鈥�

Be you

Pelrine says that the backlash against drag queens and their performances is rooted in homophobia, and the hatred is uninformed and misguided.

鈥淎 show I would do for a 19+ venue is very different from what I would do at an all-ages show. You can鈥檛 compare a video from a night club to what would happen at drag story time. We are artists, we can always show different palettes, just like an actor playing different roles. People are taking the humanity out of it.鈥�

Pelrine says he didn鈥檛 come out until he was 19. He knew he was queer sooner, but he had to figure it out on his own and what that journey would look like for him.

鈥淚f there鈥檚 anything we could teach children, it would be that regardless of sexuality, it鈥檚 all about inclusion and being yourself. We鈥檙e not saying be queer, we鈥檙e saying be authentically you.鈥�