I’m a senior, hoping to go to prom with my friends and a date this year, but due to multiple miscalculations and a whole lot of pride, it’s not looking likely that I’ll be able to have the experience I expected. While parents write angry emails back and forth with administrators and the SGA suffers from an onslaught of bad publicity, all I can say is that I am completely unsurprised. Mistakes aside, the entire system of planning for prom has long been broken, and it was only a matter of time before a debacle like this happened.
For the many of you not in the loop, here’s a brief background. Prom was originally scheduled for a Friday in mid-May, which angered a lot of athletes; it coincided with the first day of conference play for the baseball team, and as a result would prevent juniors and seniors from going. After completely justified uproar from parents of athletes, a decision was made to move the date to Friday, June 6th.
This decision absolutely, in no way whatsoever, solves the problem. The track team will be headed off to state competition that day, and seniors like Mackenzie Haight, who has worked for four years earning state and national titles for Marshall’s track and cross country teams, will not be able to attend. It’s unlikely that the date will change again, given that we’re in the middle of prom season and venues are booked solid.
The junior class’s original reasoning for the Friday date was the price of the venue; the class of 2015 has failed to raise enough money to have prom on a Saturday, as it’s traditionally been held. The solution is most certainly not to move the dance to another Friday, as the continued uproar has indicated. Had the junior class accepted an offer of monetary support from the seniors, this entire debacle could have been avoided; however, they chose to attempt planning on their own.
I’ll be as blunt as possible: the entire concept of a non-senior class having absolute control over prom is a joke. In the end, do the pictures, the parties, and the dresses really matter to the juniors? They have another chance at having those high school memories. We don’t.
Does prom really matter? some argue. Nope. Not at all. It’s just a dance, and we seniors are all leaving anyway. Does that mean that we should strive for the most mediocre experience possible? Again, no, it doesn’t. That kind of attitude is completely at odds with the attitude we should have as a school. If we don’t strive for excellence in everything we do, what else might we let fall through the cracks?
This opinion is not meant to attack members of the class of 2015. I have nothing but the utmost respect for you all. I am sad that those of you who are in charge of planning prom have dropped the ball so completely, and I hope that the class of 2016 doesn’t give you the same disappointment when it’s your turn for all the amazing experiences that senior year is supposed to hold.