Lehigh freshman gains local fame on campus as “Pink Girl”

Aviana Reynard, ‘25, was getting food with her peers from the Marching 97 when a friend showed her a Yik Yak post referencing “Pink Girl.”

Reynard — confused — had never heard of Yik Yak before coming to Lehigh, but quickly became familiar with the app and her new nickname that was popularized on it. 

Yik Yak is a location-based, anonymous social media platform. On the app, users can anonymously upload short text posts that can be viewed by anyone in a five mile radius. People can then up-vote or down-vote the posts, as well as add comments.  

Aviana Reynard, ’25, in front of M&M House on March 22. Reynard’s room is decorated with unicorns plushes, sparkles, and everything pink. (Layla Warshaw/B&W Staff)

Pink hair, pink monochromatic outfits and notes written entirely in pink have made Reynard hard to miss on campus. Since the fall of 2021, hundreds of students have taken to Yik Yak to announce daily “Pink Girl” sightings. 

Reynard said she wasn’t always as pink as she is now.

“I never got special attention for it,” Reynard said of her time before Lehigh. 

Despite having pink hair and sporting sparkles for several years, it wasn’t until the summer before her first year of college that Reynard decided to gut her closet of everything that wasn’t pink. 

“I would love to be an icon for people to look up to and say, ‘she’s not afraid,’” Reynard said.

Her roommate, Shoshanna Evans, ‘25, was initially amazed by Reynard’s dedication to style and now has come to see her as one of the kindest people she has met. 

“She’s inspired me to be more confident and not care about what other people think, like right now, I’m dying my hair,” Evans said. 

Apart from her stylistic flair, Reynard plays a vital role in several music groups on campus and holds a performance scholarship from Lehigh. 

Professor David Diggs, the director of bands at Lehigh, helped recruit Reynard to Lehigh. Diggs said that from more than 100 applicants, only two students were admitted with music scholarships. Reynard was one of them. 

“She’s an incredible clarinetist which is why she was given a scholarship,” Diggs said. “She plays principal clarinet chair in the wind ensemble, which is very rare as a first-year student. That’s a tribute to her and her abilities.”  

Reynard said she has been playing the clarinet since fifth grade but didn’t fall in love with it until the beginning of high school. 

“A lot of the time, once I learn the music, I like to close my eyes and just kind of feel it, adding my own emotion to the piece,” Reynard said. “To me, it’s like floating, letting the music take you wherever it wants to take you.”

In the Marching 97, she was elected to the position of “suits” by members of the band, delegated the responsibility of uniforms. A position that speaks of her quality as a performer and commitment to the band. 

Her love of music even carries over to her academics, and she said she is considering pursuing a music minor, in addition to her studies in psychology and philosophy. 

On top of her involvement in  the wind ensemble, Marching 97 and LU Philharmonic, Reynard carries her passion for performance through her involvement in both the Bellydance Club and JM Entertainment. 

“I love the idea of getting on stage and entertaining an audience, making people’s eyes widen and mouth drop,” Reynard said “It’s been really nice to find a group that loves the dance as much as I do.” 

Reynard said she intends to further explore her creative side through social media, such as starting a YouTube channel.

Over quarantine, Reynard said she spent a lot of her free time learning about K-pop, which has fueled an ongoing enthusiasm for dance. 

“She is so kind, warm and caring,” Diggs said. “One thing about Aviana is that she’s the kind of person that when you need a friend, she’s there. She lifts the spirits of everybody in the room.”