[dropcap style=”simple” size=”4″]D[/dropcap]ressed in a crop top and sweatpants, junior Roz Eggener said she was heading to her next class when an administrator pulled her aside and said she was showing “too much skin” and needed to cover up. Eggener said this incident was only one of many instances. Teachers and administrators have confronted Eggener about her outfits too many times, and she said enough was enough.
Supported by more than 50 students and teachers, she has organized a committee that aims to either make the guidelines of the dress code more clear or to remove it altogether.
“I’ve gathered a lot of people who are interested in the issue and who would like to make it known that girls’ bodies are not a distraction,” Eggener said. “The RBHS dress code is very loosely worded, which leaves it up for interpretation and can be very biased and inconsistent and sexist. We are aiming to either get a strict set of rules for the dress code so we know when we’re breaking it and so that it can be less inconsistent or to stop dress coding people altogether because it’s unfair and disrespectful.”
The student handbook for the secondary schools of Columbia Public Schools states that “extremes in dress and/or grooming, which may be health or safety hazards or detract from a desirable educational setting, are inappropriate for school … Dress or grooming, which interferes or disrupts the educational process, will be subject to disciplinary action. Each school may have specific language regarding the dress for that building.”
It’s the power of interpretation given to administrators that irks Eggener. Assistant principal Deborah Greene acknowledges the concerns but says the school’s highest priority is to keep a standard of excellent education, not to police fashion choices.
“[The dress code does] allow for interpretation; I do understand that, and again what might look appropriate to me might not to someone else. But I think we all administrators think alike,” Greene said. “We’ll see someone walk by, and we’ll give each other a look like ‘really?’ and one of us goes up and goes ‘Hey! Why don’t you come into my office.’ We just try and teach that [the school] is a learning environment and there are some things you wear and some things you don’t.”
Senior Will Reed agrees with Greene, saying a school setting is a place for learning, not a place for improper attire such as revealing clothing or apparel showing crude language or expressions. He said such clothing would distract from the learning.
“I like the dress code because I don’t think it is good for people to wear inappropriate clothing or profane language,” Reed said. “It can be distracting to other students, and it can hinder an environment that is meant to be healthy and educational.”
While RBHS gives many freedoms to students, Eggener believes clothing choice should not be questioned at school, as it is her right to wear what she wants. Eggener disagrees with both Greene and Reed, arguing that the clothes that people choose to wear have no impact on who they are as a person and what they are able to accomplish.
“You can be a responsible student no matter what you’re choosing to wear,” Eggener said. “It is part of my freedom as a human and as a student to be able to wear the clothes that make me comfortable, and if other students are distracted by that — which I’ve had no experience in a student telling me that they were distracted — but if that were [to happen], that’s not my responsibility to take care of.”
Eggener further claims that for RBHS, which prides itself on being a school of individuality and entrusting students with privileges like leaving campus during off periods, the dress code becomes counter intuitive to that vision.

art by Dzung Nguyen

“In terms of ‘freedom with responsibility,’ I don’t think clothes and dress code have anything to do with your freedoms and your responsibilities as a student,” Eggener said. “I think that has a lot more to do with human rights and body confidence, and that’s not something that the school should be able to decide for you.”
In addition, Eggener said the dress code accomplished the exact opposite of what it intended for her — instead of ensuring a positive and encouraging learning environment, Eggener said the dress code exemplified sexism and treated her as simply a physical object, reducing her motivation as a student.
“I’ve felt as though I’m being objectified by the dress code and that my body is purely a sexual thing. I am so much more than that as a person,” Eggener said. “I have worked a long time to become comfortable with my body. I know a lot of people have and if I feel safe and confident enough to show it off, then I should be able to do that. Even if my goal isn’t to show it off, per se, if I’m just hot, if I’m in a P.E. class, if it’s August, and it’s 110 degrees Fahrenheit, I should be able to wear a crop top for my comfort, be it physical or mental.”
Greene understands the reasons for wearing clothing that was questionable under the dress code. Any other such clothing would distract people from the true purpose of school: to learn.
“Young girls want to be fashionable, but there’s a line where what [you wear] for school is different than what you wear to the nightclub,” Greene said. “It can’t be whatever someone has on a distraction to the learning environment.”
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