The class of 2019 will say their farewells this year, but the first step to this process has been reached on less than satisfactory grounds. After it was decided that this year’s graduation cap and gown colors would just be green, many students were upset with these results. Seeing as there is no scheduled revote, it is unfair to students for not being able to have a voice and the administration should act.
Senior class officers and Associated Student Body advisor Lisa Claypoole organized this year’s voting for cap and gown colors. After students voted on Nov. 1, and the results were announced, many students did not even realize that having both green and gold was an option on the ballot, according to ASB Senior Vice President Liam Barberi. The ballot was organized alphabetically so many students were confused by its representation, according to Barberi. After the less than desirable vote was reached for the 2019 graduation ceremony, upset students demand a revote out of their confusion and frustration.
Students were confused, as the option read as all A-K students wearing green gowns and students with the last name L-Z as gold, and thought that last option was part of the instructions for the ballot. The ballot included the option to have green, gold, white, and the last option as green and gold.
Last year, in an attempt to show acceptance of every student at Mira Costa, the administration allowed students to choose their desired color for graduation, and the decided color was white. However, there were complaints with the gowns being transparent and students looking much too uniform. It can be easily organized to hold a revote during school hours, but this option will not even be entertained despite student complaints.
The administration has not responded with any inclination to change the color, so there will not be a revote according to Barberi. If a majority of students are not happy with the color decided, there should be another opportunity to decide what the senior class wants. It is respectable and progressive of Mira Costa to allow students to change the color of their gowns. However, this is completely counterproductive as students now have no say in the matter.
Though it could be argued that the option for green and gold was equally represented on the ballot, it still does not undermine student discontent with this decision. The whole point of being able to vote for a color is to come to a decision on what the senior class wants. However, with this process it seems more students are upset than if there was no voting process at all.
Mira Costa prides itself with student-led organizations to make a majority of decisions on campus. However, although ASB organized the voting for this year’s cap and gown colors, there will not be a revote even though a majority of the population is unhappy with the results. It should be up to ASB or this year’s senior class to decide what color(s) will be used for graduation. Also, considering administration has the opportunity to host a revote yet they refuse to, speaks on how our administration lacks the motivation to intervene.
For this reason, ASB should hold a revote regardless of the opinions and lack of decisions from the administration. In a recent interview, Principal Ben Dale stated that administration had given the thumbs up for a revote, but it was the responsibility of ASB to act on it. The Associated Student Body is in charge of making the best decisions for the overall well-being of the school. Students deserve their voice to be heard, and they deserve the right to make change in times of discontent. It is within the best interest of this year’s graduating class to be content with the cap and gown colors, as they leave one last time.
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