No Cap, There Are No More Hats
Maclay Upper School Announces New Hat Ban
Photo by Yang Deng on Unsplash
The hats aren't coming back.
On Aug. 15 during the upper school general assembly, Head of Upper School Charles Beamer announced to the student body that hats are no longer allowed on campus. Students found even carrying a hat will have it taken from them and will get it back at the end of the day. After a student receives a verbal warning, the next time they are caught with their hat, they will receive a demerit. The demerit is the upper school’s new way of enforcing infractions among students.
Before the hat ban, hats were allowed to be worn outside but they had to be removed when the student was inside a building.
“We [administrators] noticed that over time students were getting away with wearing hats indoors,” Dean of Upper School Student Affairs Heather Bas said. “When we decided that we did not want hats indoors we realized that there are just some students that have a really bad habit of wearing their hat and cannot control themselves when it comes to having their hat on.”
As teachers constantly had to remind students to keep their hats off inside, they decided that hats would be banned completely during the school day.
“For the most part, they [students] take them off, but some students just having a hat in their hand or near them, it's just such a habit for them to put it back on,” Upper School Academic Dean Angela Croston said. “I don't think they mean any disrespect, but it's just a habit for them to always wear a hat.”
This hat ban especially affects boys since they are the ones who mainly would wear hats on a regular basis.
“It [wearing a hat] makes me feel comfortable,” senior Jose Alfaro said. “On bad hair days especially you just gotta have a hat.”
While the rule is being respected by students, it takes away from their usual attire.
“I get the inside rule and I do understand the respect of taking off a hat inside and I do somewhat agree with that,” Alfaro said. “But no hat on campus is very extra.”
With the many changes to the dress code this year, including the hat ban, students are beginning to find their bearings with what they can and can’t wear.
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