Pink is back and better with Pretty Girls Sweat’s (PGS) reintroduction of their annual Pink Brunch. The pink and floral themed event took place in the Chenango Champlain Collegiate Center (C4) Multipurpose room this Saturday at 11 a.m., featuring interactive games, awards and food.

PGS stayed true to their promise of a very pink brunch. Flower bouquet centerpieces and floral vines decorated each table which was draped with a satin rose gold cloth and scattered flower petals. Each guest received tableware along with a personalized name card, pink paper teacups and a menu. Balloons were tossed all throughout the room and put up on a portion of one of the walls for photos during the event.

Danayvia Nieves, the PGS historian and a senior majoring in women, gender and sexuality studies, discussed the process of creating Pink Brunch.

“My favorite aspect of Pink Brunch was the setup,” Nieves wrote in an email. “While I understand there the actual event can be seen as more exciting for some, creating the event meant the world to me. Working closely everyday for months with my [E-Board] allowed us to truly create [a] beautiful event for Binghamton University. Going over the scripts, awards, decorations and food with E-Board was truly my highlight of the event.”

Shortly after attendees settled in, Nashara Marrow, vice president of PGS and a senior majoring in human development, along with former vice president and ‘23 graduate, Shanae Phillips, opened with the history and purpose of the organization. Pink Brunch is more than a way for organization members to socialize and bond over a meal — it’s about celebrating the encouragement of leading healthy and active lifestyles as young women of color, they explained. According to the PGS mission statement, 30 percent of Black and Hispanic children aged 2-19 are more likely to be overweight or obese compared to their white counterparts. This is where PGS steps in.

Aeshia DeVore Branch, founder of PGS, created the organization in 2011 after learning this statistic as a new mom. The core of PGS is to carry out her mission of making exercise fun and accessible for women and children of color.

Phillips made this exceptionally clear in her opening statement.

“The power is in our hands,” Phillips said. “This is very important for health reasons, and we need to beat the statistics that are out there. The purpose of [PGS] is to destigmatize the masculinity of sweating in itself [and] show who we are. We can be pretty while sweating.”

Following their statement on the club’s mission and values, Undivided, a campus a capella group, performed two songs for the audience. One of the songs, “Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child, was emblematic of the careful dedication to cultural vibrancy within the event. Down from the music playing in between segments of the brunch, to the songs chosen for interactive games, all musical artists were women of color. Nieves wrote about the support PGS provided and their commitment to women’s empowerment.

“Something significant that made me join this organization was the home it created for me,” Neives wrote. “Coming to Binghamton as a transfer, I felt as if I needed a home away from home. Women empowerment, support, and a safe space was provided from [PGS]. I realized this organization allowed me to express who I was safely while managing a healthy well-balanced lifestyle. [PGS] allowed me to use my platform to allow other women to join this network, to be themselves freely, while also taking care of themselves physically and mentally. Every general body meeting and sweatshow reminds me why I joined this organization.”

The PGS service award, most supportive woman award and most supportive man award were all given out in a short awards segment of the brunch. In addition, a Karaoke game was played which involved voluntary audience members singing arbitrary lines from songs upon it being stopped midway. Some of these included, “The Boy Is Mine,” “No Scrubs” and “Never Lose Me.”

Nieves emphasized how being involved with the organization has allowed her to use her platform to encourage other women to join the safe space which PGS has created for the Binghamton community.

“I hope those [who attended] took away the feeling of women empowerment and new friendships,” Nieves wrote. “We allowed women to sing along with one another, play games with each other and simply celebrate those in the room. Each woman would walk away with a positive mindset, new connection and filled belly.”

The rest of the event was dedicated to enjoying brunch with tablemates. Guests were served a choice of pancakes, mac and cheese, turkey bacon and fruit salad, along with various drinks including orange juice and hot tea. Positive-talk conversation cards were set at every table, giving attendees a chance to mingle with each other.

Bristy Das, an intern with PGS and an undeclared freshman, talked about her hopes for next year’s brunch event.

“This happens every year, but [the past few years] we didn’t have PGS because they had to shut down for a while, so this is about them bringing it back,” Das said. “A lot of us interns are running for E-Board, so we hope to bring it back and other events.”