Recently, Millikan administrators have been hanging the number of dress code violations over our heads in an attempt to lower this number. These threats have been announced on various media platforms as well as on the morning announcements making their message very clear.

Considering that Unity Week has been celebrated for several years now in response to acts of discrimination seen all around the world, it seems unjust to take this away because of students who are out of uniform.

Enforcing a dress code is reasonable, but expecting every student to follow these rules every day of the school year is simply unrealistic.  Unity Week is something more meaningful than just dressing up. It gives students a chance to bond with one another. 

The Connecticut Association of Schools even found that 92% of principals tie high achievement rates to school spirit. 

QUEST junior Jason Parra said ,“Unity Week gives people something to look forward to throughout the week and allows them to express themselves.”

The repeated reminders of the at risk Unity Week has sparked some annoyance in the student body.

“They had us submit the quiz last year, [on whether we wanted uniforms] but they didn’t take students’ thoughts into consideration, only the parents’ opinions,” said SEGA senior Sergio Reneteria. He believes that taking a week out of limited free dress days after disregarding our uniform ideas is simply unjust. 

Although administration were the decision makers, Mr. Robinson, our ASB director, was the one following up on this threat after it was proposed to him. 

“Depending on the circumstances, I don’t necessarily agree with [the reinforcement of dress code in these conditions] 100%, but I can see the point of view of some individuals on campus that have to patrol and look at the uniform through a different lens,” said Robinson.

The Dean, Mr. Heinrich, who was a huge part of decision making said, “We are always looking to reduce the number of students out of uniform, and I’m glad to see that our Millikan Community was able to participate in Unity Week.” 

Mr. Hayes, one of our assistant principals, was unaware that the threat was towards Unity Week. In his eyes, they were attempting to get dress code violations down for a separate free dress day. This leaves the question of how well our administration communicates before making decisions.

In the end, Unity Week continued and was celebrated proudly which leaves the question: was it ever really at risk or was it simply a publicity stunt to lower dress code violations? Were the students who normally wear black or gray really in uniform the last few days or was it all a scam?