Webutuck students weigh in on gender neutral graduation robes

WEBUTUCK— In keeping with the North East (Webutuck) Central School District’s tradition of gender-specific green and white graduation robes, members of the Webutuck High School (WHS) Class of 2018 petitioned last month to revert to the time-honored colors after graduates, both boys and girls, wore only green last year. 

The idea of having the students graduate under one color started last spring when former WHS Principal Jennifer Hengen (now principal of Webutuck Elementary School) discussed the possibility with Superintendent Ray Castellani. Seeing that many of the schools in Dutchess County were switching to one gender neutral color, she felt it would be best for the students if they didn’t feel that they were being singled out for the way they identified themselves.

Castellani supported her decision.

“You know the gender neutrality and the gender equity is something that is coming to the light of knowledge and the light of the public every day,” he said.

However, when word reached the student body, the majority of students from the Class of 2018 wanted to go back to the customary choice of green or white robes. Along with observing a long-standing tradition at Webutuck, some students said they were looking forward to wearing green or white on their graduation day, said high school teacher Sherry Fisher.

Seniors approached their class representatives, President Taylor Edmundson and Vice President Thomas Stefanopoulos, to ask about the switch.

“It wasn’t really a gender equality issue, in my opinion,” Edmundson said. “It’s just that I wanted to go back to the traditional colors because it’s been that way for years.”

The student representatives brought their concerns to the Webutuck Board of Education (BOE) at its Nov. 20 meeting. Castellani asked them to gather their classmates’ opinions and research why other school districts were adopting gender neutral graduation colors.

“We support student choice,” Castellani said. “Webutuck values its students and especially the seniors who are at the culmination of their studies here, so we respect how they want to express themselves.”

Senior Gemini Kilmer created a strudent poll. Altogether, her petition included every member of the senior class, totaling 57 students — all of whom wanted to return to wearing the two colors.

“She definitely made it a lot easier to bring it to the board,” Edmundson said about Kilmer, “because we just had people coming up to us and saying that they wanted to go back to the traditional colors, but we didn’t really have anything to back it up, and then she went around with the petition and it gave us something for the board.

Fisher said that the issue boiled down to tradition. 

“I mean, a lot of kids who go to school here are second generation, third generation … you know, many generations have graduated from Webutuck and I think I’ve heard them all say it’s about the tradition more than anything else,” she said. 

In addition to the petition, Edmundson, Kilmer and Stefanopoulos created a survey enabling classmates to submit their opinion anonymously. 

Separated into two sections, the survey included questions that focused on the students’ comfort with wearing the all-green robes. Students were also asked whether they would choose all green robes for the class or green and white if they were given the choice.

The survey took place in Fisher’s classroom. Students checked off their names to indicate participation and placed completed surveys in a closed container. Overall, Fisher said the survey captured opinions from about 95 percent of the graduating class.

 Edmundson, Kilmer and Stefanopoulos researched how other school districts were handling similar situations.

“What caught my attention is that a lot of schools in America are going for the more gender neutral colors,” Stefanopoulos said, “but there are also a lot of schools that want to go back to the traditional colors and a lot of students are petitioning for that.”

“It definitely made me realize how many other schools were in the same situation having the same reaction,” Edmundson added.

The findings were presented to the BOE at the Dec. 11 meeting.

“Overwhelmingly, our class is in favor of going back to green and white gowns,” Edmundson said as she read aloud from the group’s report. “We feel that any decision, whether big or small, should involve all the affected students.”

The board then made a plan to meet with the students and WHS Principal Katy McEnroe the next day to set their proposal into action.

“That is what governance is, that is what representation is,” Castellani said as he congratulated the students on their excellent work.

“They are a great group of kids,” Fisher said, emphasizing her sincere appreciation to the students for taking on the project.

Stefanopoulos said, “I think it honors the ability to choose. We also talked to future classes and they agreed with us,” he said. “It affects people’s lives and it’s not something we should be taking lightly.”