Last year’s football games should have been crowded with loud, spirited students, but instead, the bleachers sat empty. Not because the students didn’t care about the team, but because some didn’t want to deal with the new dress code policy attached to attending.

School events are supposed to bring the students together, but ironically, this new, strict dress code is keeping them away instead. It’s hard to get excited for school events when you’re more worried about getting dress-coded.

Cathedral’s dress code policy hasn’t always been this strict when it came to school events. It used to be outside-of school-appropriate, your usual no tube top, no cleavage shown, with shorts and appropriate words/sayings on shirts or hoodies. This seems pretty reasonable for a Catholic school’s football game and many others would agree with me.

Last year took a whole new stand with the dress code being no shoulders shown, no shorts under 3 inches, no stomach being shown and no tight-fitting clothes, creating the strict dress code policy and weaving it into outside-of-school events.

As a senior myself, I’ve not only seen the decrease in spirit but also have participated in the boycott to the games.

I believe that a strict policy that completely limits what little freedom students have in what they wear to outside events challenges the freedom to express ourselves. The idea that the dress code should stay school appropriate is reasonable but limiting it to having to wear basically our uniform just in a different font creates a wall I want to break down.

I interviewed an upcoming senior, Beau Sudberry, to discuss this issue as a student who’s been through all the dress code difficulties. He shared, “I’m not gonna feel like I’m restricted to the confines that determine if I go to an event and I will feel like I have more of a choice.”

Beau continued saying, “I wouldn’t wear anything extremely different and still stay school appropriate. I wouldn’t wear what I wouldn’t want my family to see but having the choice of free will when it comes to the dress code for football games creates a more energetic atmosphere.”

His argument agrees with my opinion, stating that school activities should be filled with spirit and energy instead of having to leave or go change out of clothes; as Beau said, it’s a choice we’re given by the school to wear what we want.

Giving the students’ independence in knowing what is appropriate and what isn’t for a school event with families around, rather than enforcing a policy that influences students to disobey or ignore, allows us to see the change and respond appropriately. This allows the students to feel confident in their clothes and feel school spirit to cheer on the football team.

When staff and directors of the school see students represent their school in an “unprofessional” manner their first instinct is to immediately dismiss the issue and create a boundary to confine the students’ behavior; although this does seem the most appropriate approach for these situations, this route completely disregards the students’ choices.

With football season often being in the hotter seasons, students will show up in more summery clothes, a reaction to the heat and circumstances of the weather. Having to weave in a new uniform like dress code for outside events brings down the spirit of having fun and “dressing up” for the games especially in more summer-appropriate wear.

Being able to express your own style at these events allows the students to go out of their comfort zone of uniforms and lets them release the tension of wearing the same thing every day.

These events create confidence and spirit within the students, bringing everyone into a community of the same goal, to win the football game. As a student myself, I noticed a boycott from the other students during these policy changes.

It felt uplifting to see everyone involved in wanting to make a difference, even if it was as small as asking to keep the old dress code; it brought everyone together.

It creates a realization that everyone wants the same thing, a stress-free environment filled with positive energy.

Worrying about if we will be allowed into the game or debating if my outfit fits the title of too revealing makes the games less fun, realistically creating a tense response from the students.

Dr. McIntosh, Director of Student Life and Leadership, shared that, “the student section decreased and it was an obvious sign something was off…we knew we had communicated it badly to the students and needed to change our approach.”

McIntosh educated me saying that this year the policy actually didn’t have much of a change but rather the change was in the way the students received it. The policy went from written from an adult in an unresponsive way to having real-life students write it in a way that was more appealing for others to read.

She discussed how ASB, Link Crew and Student Voices Associations see these issues and come together to acknowledge how to fix them. They meet every month to discuss what issues students are having and to find solutions; you can easily join this conversation. Students can email either Dr. McIntosh, ASB members or the Students Voices Association about any concerns and bring forth the issues. The overall goal of these events is to make them fun and enjoyable to attend.

If there’s an issue to discuss, Cathedral will help resolve it through many resources, so if you feel like your voice isn’t ever heard don’t worry, you just haven’t found who to talk to yet.

This is what school spirit looks like.