By: Julia Wilson | Head Editor
February 21, 2020
As seniors in high school, the bittersweet moments of spending the last months cherishing and celebrating with both your friends and classmates together begin to set in. As college takes students to many different parts of the country and even the world, it is exciting to have an opportunity to celebrate the class’s success at the graduation ceremony. However, on the last day together, students are separated based strictly upon their academic achievements, with no exceptions.
“The whole point of graduation is to be with your class one last time,” San Clemente High School senior Emily Furlotte said. “We do not need to be separated by color so everyone can see who got the grade.”
The four colors for the graduating classes include gold, red, white, and black. The gold robe is a privilege bestowed upon the “Scholar of Scholars,” which is an award given by the school administration to one student who not only stands out academically, but also embodies what a true Triton should be. The red robes are graduates who have completed and passed the International Baccalaureate Programme (IB). The white robes are given to students who will graduate with an overall weighted 4.0 GPA for all four years (up to the twelve-week mark of 12th grade), and the black robes are for the rest of the student body that does not qualify for any of these options.
Now, of course it is important to celebrate the academic achievements and success of students; however, by separating students simply based on grade point average can be demeaning and embarrassing for those who may not qualify. With graduation intended to be an exciting moment for students and family, students may feel like they are less important or valued based strictly on the color of the robe they are wearing and the seat they are sitting in.
“There are some people in black that worked equally as hard as those in white and might have had more obstacles to overcome in their life,” SCHS senior IB diploma candidate Sophia Mains said. “Yes, a 4.0 is an accomplishment, but give them a cord instead of segregating the whole ceremony”.
Another factor that this flawed system does not take into account is that students who challenged themselves and took a harder and more rigorous class load and received just under a 4.0 are not rewarded, but instead separated from students who took the easy route of non AP or Honors classes, simply for the satisfaction of graduating in white.
The incentive to “graduate in white” defeats the purpose of the educational system, which is to enlighten and inspire students to learn new things. Afraid of receiving a bad grade or lowering their GPA, students take the easy class simply for the letter grade, rather than to expand their knowledge.
“I think that graduation is a special time where our entire class can come together to celebrate all of the work that we’ve put into high school,” SCHS senior Sydney Hanning said. “Dressing us in different color robes based on GPA takes away from that unity and could make this celebratory event a dreaded one for students who didn’t make the 4.0 GPA”.
It is important to understand that outstanding academic achievement is important and should be recognized; but by not allowing students to choose where and who they sit around on their last day as a Triton is upsetting. Instead, maybe a chord or sash could be issued to the 4.0 scholars, so they are rewarded for this achievement. But, separating both seating arrangements and colors of robes ultimately causes students who worked extremely hard to feel undermined and underappreciated.
Wow I really liked this article, I’ve never thought about the lack of unity due to robe colors before, but I totally agree! Of course people who pushed themselves above and beyond should be celebrated, but its an important point to note that some kids who took incredibly rigorous courses still scored well, but just under a 4.0. More people should really be taking note of how students need to feel unified and as “one” at graduation and an ulterior strive or incentive just to graduate with a certain color robe creates a drift between the graduating class.