Dress Code Red: Students’ Experiences with the Dress Code
Dominic Ariola ’26 knew the basic Nazi symbols: the swastika, the SS symbol, maybe even the iron cross. However, during his freshman year, he learned of one more–because it was on his shirt.
The clothing policy at Sequoyah is simple: according to the Sequoyah School Student Handbook, if a student wears clothing that is either distracting to the learning environment or features “drugs, alcohol, obscenities, discrimination, violence or sexual innuendo,” they will be asked to “change their clothing or will be sent home and given an unexcused absence.” But what does it actually look like when someone’s given a dress code violation at a school where so few are given? What kind of outrageous outfit do you have to have on?
One morning after a weekday sleepover with Atticus Affleck ’26, Ariola asked to borrow a shirt. Since Ariola is taller than Affleck, he ended up borrowing a shirt from Affleck's brother.
Ariola put the shirt under a puffer jacket and didn’t think much of it. “I went to school and when I took off my jacket because it was warming up… someone looked at me and pointed at my shirt and said something about it being offensive. I was very confused,” recalled Ariola. Ariola looked down and saw a brand’s logo on his shirt that mirrored the Nazi eagle, depicting the bird clutching the word “Boy” in place of a swastika. For context, Boy London is a brand based out of London that tries to push the norms of traditional fashion. To worsen the situation, Ariola had shaved his head a few weeks earlier for St. Baldrick’s Day, an organization that encourages people to shave their heads in support of cancer research. “It kind of presented an unfortunate neo-Nazi type of aesthetic… twenty minutes later I ended up in the Dean’s office talking to [the former Dean of Academics],” he recalled. Ariola noted that he didn't like how the conversation went. “I felt like I didn’t have any chance to explain that it was unintentional.” After the conversation, Ariola was asked to zip up his sweatshirt and hide the shirt for the rest of the day. Ariola reflected on the situation, saying, “If I looked hard at that shirt, I wouldn’t have worn it to school.”
Another dress code violation happened during Spirit Week in 2023, when the school was celebrating “dress up as your grade’s color day.” Ellis Kopcho ’26 had no idea this would be the day he got a talking-to about his outfit; however, he should have known. The day before, he went shopping with a friend, and he purchased two items: a pink sombrero and a whip. Kopcho believes that the cashier thought it was “probably some gay roleplay thing since I was with Oliver.” Kopcho related, “The next day I wore my Brandy Melville pants, my pink bra top, and my big pink sombrero to school.” (Kopcho did not bring the whip, which is currently in Kopcho’s room collecting dust after a few failed experiments: “I did hit myself a couple times,” he noted.) The morning of, Kopcho made an announcement at Morning Meeting partially to inform students about an upcoming band show at his house but mostly to show off his outfit to the school. “I was very proud of it. I thought I looked great,” he said. After the announcement, a former Sequoyah Spanish teacher approached Kopcho about his outfit, first complimenting him and then warning him that his hat could be mistaken as offensive or cultural appropriation. Kopcho was very apologetic and took off the hat almost immediately. However, “it ended up being this whole thing where… all my friends wanted to wear it and then they started getting in trouble for wearing it as well,” said Kopcho. He noted that the outfit didn’t work as well without the hat, adding that it was really “the crown jewel. It was the cherry on top.”
Finally, Benjamin (Benji) Silva ’26 got talked to this year after showing up to school in a shirt “with two ghosts, absolutely ripping a bong,” according to Silva. The shirt was gray and featured the phrase “keep your spirits high.” Silva was wearing an overshirt that he was asked to button up; however, he later unbuttoned it and faced no repercussions. Silva feels no remorse about wearing the shirt and said, “I think I’m going to wear it on the last day of school.”
So despite the potential punishment outlined in the student handbook–the threat of being sent home and given an unexcused absence–in practice, the consequences tend to be less severe. Most instances just result in an awkward talk and a request to cover up the offending article.