photo by Sydney Schaefer

Photography Professor Chris Rolinson looks surprised after the hairdresser cut off 13 inches of his hair for the Locks of Love foundation at the PINKnic in Village Park Oct. 30.

Last summer, a very close friend of Chris Rolinson, an associate professor of photography and photojournalism at Point Park, confided in him that he would be undergoing treatment for cancer. So he decided to do something to honor him.

Rolinson, whose long ponytail had not been cut in four years, teamed up with several different Point Park organizations to donate his hair to Locks of Love, an organization that provides wigs for cancer patients.

From that grew the idea to have Rolinson cut his hair at the annual PINKnic, an event held during The Honors Student Organization’s (HSO) Pink Feet week for Breast Cancer Awareness. Students, faculty and his two young boys gathered to watch a professional hairdresser chop off his ponytail in honor of his friend and to raise cancer awareness.

“I’m a little nervous. It’s been four years since I’ve had a haircut,” said Rolinson in Village Park Oct. 30. “This has been something I’ve kind of gotten used to, so it’s a little bit of a change.”

He plans to start growing his hair out again right away.

The HSO, Strong Women Strong Girls (SWSG) and Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) all joined together and hosted the event to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month. 

PINKnic had plenty of activities provided by SWSG and HSO, including a coloring booth, pink lemonade pong and a bra toss.

Every year, the Honors Program and HSO put on a Pink Feet race in competition with other honors programs around Pittsburgh, according to Nicholas Moran, Treasurer of HSO. The goal of Pink Feet is to raise as much money as possible for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

A check for all the money raised during Pink Feet will be given to the Pittsburgh chapter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. There is still one more event that will happen during Pink Feet, which will be a Chipotle fundraiseer on Nov. 17 from 5-9 p.m.

The ceremony in which the check is given to the Pittsburgh chapter will be held in November.

Rolinson’s children, Andrew and Max, came out to support their dad and watch him get his hair cut.

Andrew Rolinson said that his dad’s new haircut looked a little weird.  Max Rolinson said that it looked like his dad time traveled back to when his hair was that short.

They both said that maybe one day they would grow their hair out just like their dad.

Friends and co-workers were also there to watch Rolinson’s hair get chopped.

“That new hair cut is shaping up to be a new Chris, maybe all he needs is a new wardrobe,” said Bob O’Gara, professor of public relations and advertising at Point Park.