Following last spring’s hotly debated talk to students on the dress code, Choate has taken the much-needed steps and established another committee geared towards student life: the establishment of the Dress Code Committee.
Currently the group includes faculty members Mr. Jesse Minneman, Mrs. Ellen Devine, Ms. Judi Williams, Mr. Samuel Doak, and Mrs. Catherine Velez. The students on the committee include Esul Burton ’16, Dylan Stafford ’16, Cecilia Zhou ’17, Shamari Harrington ’18, and Boxuan Su ’18. According to Burton, “There’s definitely a spectrum on that committee and I think that’s good because we are each representing sections of Choate.” With a diverse group of students and a myriad of opinions, the committee hopes to reflect the needs of the Choate community as a whole.
The committee’s year-long task is to devise a proposal amending or affirming the existing dress code through researching dress codes at other peer schools, analyzing proposals from various interest groups across campus, and gathering input from faculty and students who may have differing viewpoints. While embarking on this endeavor, the members had a clear-cut goal: to propose a new dress code policy that reflects where Choate is right now, as a school, and uphold the school’s values.
According to Burton, “One of the reasons that the committee was created in the first place is because last spring there was a form meeting that caused some controversy. The girls were told to stay behind from the form meeting and were talked to about the dress code. Many of the girls thought it was sexist.” Even more, Burton stated, “There’s been this huge discussion of ‘Is our dress code cisnormative?’, ‘Is it too strict, is it too casual?’, and ‘What standard are we trying to uphold?’ As a committee we want to reflect on those questions and come up with a dress code that’s a lot more clear and causes less stress between faculty and students.”
Many Choate students and faculty believe that the current dress code needs some adjustments and that the school should enforce a more lax dress code that mandates appropriateness and lacks ambiguity.
Mr. James Davidson, an HPRSS faculty member, suggested a dress code that covers the bases of “neat, clean, and good coverage.” He said, “I realize that it gets more complicated when you talk about length of skirts or shorts. I think that we could be much simpler and clearer.” This may seem familiar, for Phillips Andover Academy enforces a dress code in which “students dress informally but with a sense of propriety.”
The first meeting tackled the issue of identifying what the dress code looks like now, what people are saying about it, and what issues need to be addressed. As of right now, students not involved in the committee are not able to submit proposals. Currently, committee meetings are behind closed doors. However, students on the committee are currently creating surveys and focus groups to extend the discussions held during committee meetings. The committee recognizes that it’s crucial to take the feelings of the community into account and not limit the discussions to solely their personal opinions.
However, like any new endeavor, the committee is anticipating its share of potential obstacles. The biggest challenge thus far is not being able to ensure that a future proposal will be initiated. According to Burton, “Even if we, as a committee, come to a consensus, we don’t have any certainty that that’s going to be taken to the next level because we’re only a committee and the final decision about the dress code is not really in our hands.” There is also the matter of coming to a consensus within the committee itself, which proves to be a challenge considering everyone’s varying opinions on the philosophy of the dress code.
For now, the discussion of amending the dress code has only begun. However, with the committee’s strict agenda and various methods of reaching out to students and faculty throughout the school year, the future looks bright. Who knows? Maybe Choate students will be seen wearing blue jeans to class in the near future.
