By Laura Baker
The new uniform skirt has been a controversial topic for a while but has recently come to attention again because many girls have skirted the uniform policy by once again wearing the old version. Students question the continued enforcement of the new skirt despite its flaws–quality, cost, comfort and style. Will the new skirt last for many years to come as a uniform or will new additions, changes, or even a reversion to the old skirt arise? Uniform changes are often met with resistance, but the skirt policy continues to be a source of controversy even four years after its implementation. How do students and faculty feel about the old and new skirt now?
Student Sarah Beth Couch ‘23 reflected on her experiences and opinions on the new and old skirt through email. She believed that she is finally starting to like the new skirt after all these years.
“[The old skirt is my] baby,” Couch said. “I wore that skirt for eleven years straight. You can just imagine how I felt when I heard they were changing the skirt. I feel as if there was no reason to change the skirt, the administration could have been more strict on the length, and it would have worked out for everyone.”
Couch summarized how she thought the process of making the new skirt went.
“[The administration] asked different teachers and students how they felt about this so-called new skirt,” Couch said. “Which I think is completely unfair. They should have asked a student who [was] going to actually wear the skirt what they thought instead of asking people who were graduating.”
Dean Underwood, associate dean of students, explains the why of making the new skirt and addresses assumptions. He states his disapproval for girls continuing to disobey the uniform and acknowledges that “the new skirt disappoints [him].”
“I was part of the committee of about twelve adults, male [and female] and about forty female students, juniors and seniors, that were helping find a new skirt,” Underwood said. “A lot of that time and effort went into the new skirt, to which we found out after everything was done that nobody liked the new skirt, they just thought that’s what we wanted to hear.”
Underwood wished students were more honest in voicing their opinions during the making of the skirt rather than going along with it.
“What was meant to be an effort to give the student female population power in their uniform, ended up just being a waste of time,” Underwood said.
Mrs. Zents, Upper School assistant principal, echoed Underwood’s disappointment with the outcome of the new skirt. She reflected on how far we have come, four years later, wishing there was a better way to introduce the skirt without isolating certain grades.
“I feel like we have shifted as a culture to accept this new skirt,” Zents said. “[…] But I know there’s still a part of our population who does not like it,[and] does not want to wear it. I’d like to dig more into that to kind of understand what is going on there. Since it is now everyone and you have a choice of two styles of skirts, pants, why [do] students still wear a skirt that they want to alter and transform.”
Zents explained the primary charge to change the skirt was to move to a more professional look and “distinguish the Upper School students from the Lower School students.” She addressed students’ concerns with the old skirt and how the committee was able to problem solve this and come up with a new idea.
“For many students, they were not adapting to the correct sizing [of the old skirt],” Zents said. “Their bodies were not comfortable in [the old] skirt because it is a more straight skirt. Depending on the body type that might be comfortable and feel flattering and for someone else they were often like riding up in the back. […] Certain students were getting hours more than other students because the way the skirt fit; that didn’t feel fair.”
Zents also noticed other schools are moving to pants and reflects on her opinion if this would ever be a possibility.
“If we were all pants, it takes out this idea of a gendered culture where girls are expected to wear one thing and boys are expected to wear another thing,” Zents said. “[…] That puts pressure on girls who don’t like the skirt to have to wear the skirt instead of wearing pants because they feel like somehow [..] as a girl you’re supposed to wear the skirt to fit in as a girl. […] That makes my heart hurt that we put students in those boxes where you have to wear a certain uniform if you’re a girl. It also sort of helps our transgender community to feel like there’s one uniform. […] Honestly, [going to all pants] is not on the table right now because we haven’t revisited the skirt as a problem.”
Student Kenedi Gibbons ‘23 spoke on her experiences wearing the new skirt and shared her point of view on others wearing the old one.
“I didn’t like [the new skirt] at first because I thought it was uncomfortable, and I didn’t like the length, I thought it was way too long,” Gibbons said.
The beard policy for boys was discussed with Gibbons. It was questioned whether she believed the flexibility boys have is fair to girls with stricter rules, including the skirts.
“I don’t think I believe in [..] the guys in high school having beards, unless it’s for like a religious exemption, now if that’s the case I feel like they should have a note, but other than that just to be having these full grown beards, I think that’s a little ridiculous.” Gibbons said. “[…] I do think it’s kind of wrong, cause like we can’t even have our hair colored.”
Dean Underwood believes that any change can be made through productive conversations. He addressed the possibility of change in the future.
“Dean Thomas and I believe students should have a conversation, there’s a way of getting things done,” Underwood said. “[…] It all starts with a conversation. Students talk to their SGA representatives, SGA comes to us, we hear that, we hear it, we have a conversation. We see how we can meet the students’ needs and be there for them, because at the end of the day we want the school to be liked, we want you to feel comfortable while you’re here.”
