Students, parents and faculty packed the Paul D. Schreiber High School auditorium on Tuesday for an emotional discussion on whether students should have the option to choose what color gown they wear on graduation.
Schreiber High School graduate Kayla Harris told the Board of Education that although this wasn’t an issue when she graduated in 2011 she believes students should now have a choice of what color they want to wear at graduation.
“I remember Shreiber for many reasons, I remember it’s wide range of extracurricular activities and the ready and helpful teachers,” Harris said. “I remember the times I ate lunch outside in the courtyard and the hours I spent writing essays and doing math homework, what I don’t remember is initiative like this one that tried to bridge the gap between outdated social views and today’s LBGT community. Unfortunately I was complacent at the time I may have been okay with the status quo but now I realize I was wrong. To except the way things are based on fear of change or tradition is wrong and if we let another opportunity to better our community slip by this will also be wrong. The color that our students wear on graduation does not matter, the way people feel however, does matter. Our community tries to sell on acceptance, education, and individualism.”
The tradition at Schreiber High School is for females to wear white gowns and males to wear blue gowns.
The argument over what color gowns the students should wear started last month but recently caught attention on social media sites such as Facebook, officials said at the April 19 meeting.
“There’s been a lot, I don’t know if anyone’s on Facebook, I have to admit I am not on Facebook and maybe you could imagine why, and I was given a lot of the commentary and a lot of people have a lot to say about changing gowns because of tradition and Port Washington is a town that has a lot of tradition,” Port Washington school board President Karen Sloan said.
Officials said at the meeting that a survey was taken last month by the seniors, which showed 80 percent of students want to keep the traditional white and blue colors, and the other 20 percent are in favor of one color for all students.
Sloan told the Port Washington Times that those numbers weren’t an accurate depiction because only one quarter of the senior class took the survey.
Shreiber High School senior Lorraine Johnson said during the public meeting that if students are forced to wear a color that they don’t identify with it could make them feel uncomfortable, “which is supposed to be a fun and happy day.”
“Why does Shreiber have girls and white and boys in blue at graduation?” Johnson said. “Well it’s for the sake of tradition and while traditions can be really important to us sometimes the greatest tradition is to do the right thing. My initial thought about this issue was that I like the way it’s always been and I like the mix of white and blue and I think I’d look nice in a white gown, but then I thought about the students that may be among us who might not appreciate being forced to gender their outfits. First of all some people might not have told anyone that their gender identity does not match the one assigned at birth and beyond that not everyone feels they fit into the girl or boy category.”
She said the issue could be resolved by having all students wear the same color.
“Graduation is not supposed to be about gender identity,” Johnson said. “It’s about moving on to the next part of your life. The memory of graduation should not have to be filled with anxiety and discomfort. If you stick me in a blue gown instead of white that’s not going to ruin my graduation because I know my gender and everyone else knows it too.”
“The system we have now has the ability to cause someone a lot of stress by having them choose to associate with one gender over another. I know I share the opinion of many of my peers when I say that the comfort of even one person, whether it be this year the next to come, is more important than the color they wear to graduation,” Johnson said.
Student Eric Von Roeschlaub said he was one of those who felt hurt by the schools’ color policy.
“Though it says female on my birth certificate, I identify myself as male and it would be humiliating to force me to walk and dress with the girls just because according to the law I am still a female,” Von Roseschlaub said.
Roeschlaub said he has a lot of friends in similar situations who weren’t able to attend the meeting but would also be humiliated if forced to dress in a color that didn’t identify themselves correctly.
“This isn’t a question on how much we value the old tradition as much as it is a question on whether or not we’re going to be starting a new one,” he said.
Anthony Capozzi, a Port Washington resident and father of a senior at Shreiber, said supported the district maintaining tradition and keeping the blue and white gowns.
“I’m here to support that tradition, I think that Shreiber has had a rich tradition of having a graduating ceremony of a certain nature. That tradition is what keeps us connected to each other. It keeps the generations connected, it keeps us connected to the past to the present to the present to the future and I would hate to see the traditions start being eroded,” Capozzi said. “Although I recognize the eloquent speakers that came forward for the opposing points of view. To what extent do we continue to erode traditions when you have a minority of folks for whatever reason that want to have something different to suit the needs of a few.”
“A lot of people have a lot to say about the changing of gowns because of tradition and Port Washington is a town that really has a lot of traditions things we should be proud of,” Sloan said. “I think the most important tradition that we look out for our kids.”
Sloan said no decision has been made at this time about changing the tradition of the colored gowns.
