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The Student News Site of Niles West High School

Niles West News

The Student News Site of Niles West High School

Niles West News

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Toga Tuesday Forced to Unwrap

Toga Tuesday Forced to Unwrap

ivanaWe should have seen this coming. Our generation has become a gap generation, stuck between two very distinct eras. We are transitioning into a much more sensitive society,  and while that may not always be a bad thing, its effects are undeniably present. This seems to be a trend with the traditional unofficial senior spirit week that keeps getting busted by authority at Niles West.

Last year, Sunglasses Day and Cowboys vs. Indians Day prompted security and the deans to force students to modify their costumes and outfits. Even more recently, the pep rally’s cancellation and the authoritarian confiscation of seniors’ togas yesterday sparked frustration within the senior class.

If you haven’t heard already, this week seniors are hosting the traditional unofficial senior spirit week. Yesterday’s theme was Toga Tuesday, and many seniors came to school wrapped in bedsheets, representing a toga-styled outfit. While it all seemed like simple, clean fun to the seniors, the deans and security thought otherwise, ordering any seniors they saw to report to the deans’ office to hand over their bedsheets, forcing them to change into “normal” clothes.

When I got pulled over by dean Elizabeth Gomez, I was told that since Toga Tuesday was not a school-sponsored spirit day, seniors were not allowed to wear togas in school. Then I was asked to change into regular school attire.

But what is regular? We attend a public and diverse high school, and everyone has a different sense of “normal.” To some, wearing Doc Martens, black skinny jeans, and a punk-rock band t-shirt is considered normal. To others, leggings and a blouse is casual wear. Some people even come to school rocking Pikachu suits.  My point is this: “normal” is subjective, and just because a group of seniors decided to celebrate class spirit by wearing togas on a Tuesday doesn’t constitute the detaining of bedsheets.

According to principal Kaine Osburn, the only reason togas should have been removed was if they interrupted learning, unless they were bluntly violating the dress code (no shirt, no shoes, etc.)

“Someone would only be asked to change or amend their attire if somehow their toga were a distraction or disruption to learning,” Osburn said.

Assistant principal Kendall Griffin confirmed that some seniors, especially males, were wearing togas without shirts, which is a violation of the dress code. This prompted the deans to ask students to take off their togas.

While this is true for some of the seniors who participated in Toga Tuesday, many seniors who weren’t violating the dress code were asked to remove their togas. I was wearing a white short-sleeve t-shirt and jean capris, and Gomez insisted on me removing my toga.

It just so happens that yesterday was the warmest day of 2013 so far. What does that call for? Short shorts and revealing shirts, of course. So as security guards and deans kept a lookout for any senior in the hall wearing a toga, girls wearing short shorts and skimpy shirts strutted down the halls–clearly violating the dress code– and got away with it.

How could a toga be more distracting than a Pikachu suit or daisy dukes?

It’s these inconsistencies that make the senior class frustrated with Niles West. Only a few weeks ago, the pep rally was canceled due to rowdiness and safety reasons. And here we are, in a safe and appropriate manner, celebrating class spirit for a final time before we all leave on different paths, and it gets taken away from us again. Wearing togas did not break any rules or distract anyone; it simply was an effort to bring the senior class closer together. Yet, seniors wearing appropriate clothes were the ones asked to change, not the people who were actually breaking the code.

If the administration plans to continue to address the dress code during unofficial senior spirit week, perhaps they should be more consistent on their enforcement of the dress code throughout the year. Otherwise, respect towards authority will be lost.

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  • C

    C'mon WestMay 4, 2013 at 4:35 PM

    This is so stupid. People are coming to school in bedsheets. How is that bad? Sharon Pasia (the girl with the Pikachu suit) comes to school in a PIKACHU SUIT but seniors can’t come to school in a bedsheet? Personally, I think wearing garments to look like a Pokemon is more distracting than seeing a senior wrapped in a bedsheet.

    And let’s not forget the fact that there are girls walking through the halls in strapless tanks and shorts that could double as underwear, but yet I get stopped for having tank top straps that are only the width of a finger-and-a-half.

    The security guards are becoming ‘friends’ with the people who enjoy wearing ‘denim underwear’ so they get to wear whatever they want, but when someone who always follows the dress code decides to wear a 9×4 bedsheet, pandemonium ensues.

    We should start documenting the people who DON’T abide by the dress code and submit it to the ‘administration’. There are worse things to wear than a bedsheet, and the administration decides to overlook those who come to school wearing next to nothing.

    Reply
  • E

    Eric KMay 1, 2013 at 8:40 PM

    Nice article! It sucks that the administration is on a power trip right now, but i guess when you get older you stop understanding how to have fun. At least the students next year will have a bit of an administration change. West is a good school, and we have it a lot better than most other schools, but when you graduate and begin college you’ll realize how stupid this, and a lot of west’s rules were. Have fun and enjoy your last days of west!
    (College is 100x better)

    Reply
  • L

    lybzzziaMay 1, 2013 at 7:58 PM

    I can understand the deans asking the students who were violating the school dress code to change their outfit but asking EVERYONE to change is a bit ridiculous. My friends were wearing full pants and full-sleeved shirts but were asked to take their togas off. I ended up taking my off before fourth period was over in fear of having my bed sheet confiscated. (LOL! “Bed sheet confiscated…” The administration’s relationship with the senior class seems to be getting more and more ridiculous by the day. )

    But getting back to my point…
    By asking everyone to remove their togas, even people dressed appropriately, the deans are outright punishing the students who chose to follow the school rules.

    What type of a lesson are we supposed to learn from this?

    Reply
    • A

      AnonMay 2, 2013 at 1:05 PM

      “…the deans are outright punishing the students who chose to follow the school rules.”

      Not the first time it’s happened – look at the new prom rules.

      Reply
    • B

      BuzzyMay 3, 2013 at 10:42 AM

      The answer to your question: the type of lesson that you are supposed to learn from this is absolutely NOTHING. It is not about you but it is for the underclass students. Because of what the class of 2013 did, the administrations are showing the other classes that if they do whatever you guys are doing right now, they will be severely punished.
      All I can say is that enjoy your last three weeks as a senior and never look back, I guess.

      Reply
  • V

    VikramMay 1, 2013 at 7:35 PM

    I’m pretty sure that respect for authority has already been lost in the archaic rule-system in place at West. On the one hand the powers-that-be wish to show the world that Niles West has school spirit, while suppressing the seniors who want to make their last year, their last month, actually, special. Similar thing happened last year with “Cowboys and Indians” when Mr. Osburn freaked everyone out over the P.A.: “I have a very serious matter to discuss.” (or some such statement) reminiscent of a Code Red announcement.

    My opinion? Let the seniors be. They’re not going to be here much longer, and it’s only a matter of time before subsequent classes just completely disregard anything the admin says. Don’t have double-standards, and of course let the students actually enjoy their last memories at school rather than cracking down for no apparent reason. As a college freshman, I do have fond memories of my time back at West, and it dismays me to see things like the assembly cancellation and this suppression of school spirit. The way you are making it seem, admin, is that only “officially sanctioned and deemed ‘school appropriate'” things are school spirit, and that everything else is a danger to learning. It’s not. And besides, seniors have finals to worry about now. If anything, they would be MORE concentrated on learning, cramming, in their last month of classes. Take a break, people!

    Reply
  • R

    RachelMay 1, 2013 at 6:51 PM

    I totally agree with this article. On a daily basis I have to walk through the hallways and see girls (and even some guys) flaunting their undergarments for all the world to see. This is specifically stated as against the school’s dress code. But wearing something so conservative that it is literally wrapping yourself, fully clothed, in a sheet, is cause for punishment?
    Fine, one could argue that what happened at the assembly was immature or maybe even unsafe. However, unofficial spirit week is a peaceful tradition for seniors to show some class spirit. Punishing students for having spirit is just fueling the fire between students and administration. In my opinion, so is the requirement of riding a bus to prom. These changes will not make the seniors and other students abide by the (constantly changing) rules, it will do just the opposite.

    Reply
  • J

    JohnMay 1, 2013 at 9:27 AM

    Fully agreement. The school is suddenly punishing senior behavior that is not abnormal compared to previous years to make an example for younger students. The pep assembly was not much worse than previous ones have been (yes, people were rowdy and loud, but they always have been) and much worse student spirit weeks have been held before. The Class of 2013 is being used and targeted as an example for future classes.

    I barely noticed the togas for more than a passing glance until discussion came up over them. Plenty of students have worn more distracting outfits. “Cowboys vs. Indians Day” last year was somewhat offensive and the feathered headresses were extremely distracting, but the togas caused no problems until the administration made them a problem.

    Reply