On Thursday, Sept. 2 a number of H-F students participated in a protest of the dress code as well as a meeting between students and teachers taking place in regard to the dress code.

Students protested the dress code by writing on white shirts the changes that they want to see in the dress code, simply wearing white shirts or purposefully breaking the dress code. 

The day prior to this protest H-F administration sent out an email informing students that if students purposefully break the dress code in protest, they risk losing the Homecoming dance and the activities that go along with it. 

Due to this, the protest switched from students purposefully breaking the dress code to students simply writing on white shirts the changes that they want to see in the dress code. 

Students that participated in this protest received an email informing them that a meeting would be held in the auditorium to share stories and discuss how this issue would be addressed moving forward.

To get an inside look on this meeting and what will happen moving forward I sat down with the sponsor of the club Agents of Change as well as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coordinator, Catherine Ross-Cook.

According to her, 37 students attended this meeting where they were given an opportunity to share stories and opinions on the dress code. After this portion of the meeting concluded, they moved into how they will address the issue.

After discussions between students and teachers Cook explained that, “The goal is to now have student leaders who really represent the voices of the individuals that are really speaking out in protest about the dress code, to be able to sit at the table and to share student voices.”

Student leaders such as student council members and presidents and vice presidents of clubs such as Agents of Change have the goal of being able to attend board meetings that normally just consist of H-F staff and parents, where they can express student voices in topics such as the dress code.

I also had the chance to sit down with a student here at H-F that is involved in Agents of Change and was present at this meeting, senior Nia James.

“The dress code is sexist, subjective, and outdated,” James said. The current plan to address this issue is to pursue this, sit down with the school board, and get students a seat at the table.

She stated, “There’s no students that get to have a say in the decision making” and the current plan is to change that. 

Moving forward from the protest this past Thursday, student voices seem to be taken more into consideration by the H-F administration.