By Natalie Skaggs ‘20 and Parker Biley ‘20
After weeks of concerned curiosity from the student body pertaining to rumored cancelation of the Back-To-School Dance, an email from Mr. Timme, the Assistant Principal for Student Life, informed the students that the dance would indeed not be happening after the first football game. The email explains that this tradition has not been canceled, but rather “just hasn’t been scheduled yet.”
The concern for student safety has predominantly prompted this eminent change. As administrators offices continue to be flooded by frustrated students, it had become clear that this reasoning failed to soothe the distressed student body. In a group chat filled with 166 senior girls, members of the student body stepped forward to offer ideas on how to resolve the “unscheduled” dance. Some even proposing that the senior class should, “make [their] own if they don’t reschedule it.”
Despite the email students continued to wonder what the school was doing to support them. However, the email included a small sense of support in the form of Ms. Hall, the new senior class moderator.
Ms. Hall explains how her role is to “manage, facilitate, organize, and support anything [the seniors] as a class want to do.”
Her job will be to facilitate the long-held traditions and new ideas proposed by the student body, and utilize these activities to create a sense of unity within Regis Jesuit. In an interview with RJ Media, when asked about the alleged rescheduled dance and the possibilities of it being canceled entirely, she states that she is “not confident that [the dance will be rescheduled], but that it is not in [her] realm. The Back To School Dance is traditionally hosted by Student Council. And this year from what [she] knows, [the administration] wanted to make sure safety was considered, they wanted to make sure time was considered to make sure there were chaperones, and people looking out for [the student body].”
With many questions left unanswered and many events left unscheduled, there is undoubtedly more to be done by both students and faculty to ensure the preservation of time honored traditions. In any occasion, there is no doubt that the student body will continue to advocate and fight on behalf of what they value about Regis: community, tradition, and school pride.