A very messy 'first' day on the job for future dean

There were a few meetings, a stack of paperwork and a few pies waiting for Bill Rosehart on Friday, the day after being named dean of the Schulich School of Engineering – a post he will officially assume April 1.

Rosehart was met by students in the Engineering Lounge to happily receive five pies to the face and head by a trained "pi squad." It was part of an Engineering Students' Society effort to raise money for the Calgary Urban Project Society (CUPS) an organization which helps young, at-risk families out of poverty and into independence and resilience with health, education and housing.

"Students have had this event for years and it's tradition to 'pi' the dean," says Megan Bach, a third year civil engineering student and co-director of the 2014 Pi Week. "One way we often encourage people to buy pies is to ask professors to be a 'milestone' and take a pie after a specified amount of money has been raised."

Student event raises more money every year
This year, 30 or so students raised more than $6,500 – the milestone at which Rosehart agreed to take a pie to the face. "We've been growing every year," says Bach. "I think last year was roughly just under $5,300 and the year before that was in the $5,000 range so we are steadily increasing and I am really proud of that."

As well as the pie for reaching the milestone, the staff in the Dean's Office bought four more pies for $5 each. Shortly before receiving the "Rubik's Cube" – a pie to the front and back, both sides and top of the head – Rosehart appealed to the students with a smile: "You know it's my first day, right?"

With much applause from a crowd of staff and students – including several students sporting their own pie-streaked hair – Rosehart received the pies. After wiping off some of the whipped cream and posing for a few pictures, he went off to clean up and get on with his workday, which included a few more meetings and then a dinner also attended by the premier. No word on what was served for dessert.