A much debated topic in Morristown Beard School this year is the dress code. While some community members feel the dress code is too strict and should be scrapped entirely, others feel that our dress code is too lenient and should be amplified to something stronger like uniforms. 

Darren Lovelock of the English department has always had strong feelings about high school dress codes. He said, “I genuinely believe that the school should introduce a school uniform; it increases the school’s sense of unity and identity.” Lovelock believes that the current school dress code is extremely generous and forgiving towards the students. He said, “[I] grew up in a country that had school uniforms. It was perfectly fine and nobody squeaked about it. I think that we don’t need a more relaxed dress code or even a more severe dress code, I think we just need a school uniform.”

Oluwatomiwa Oluwasola ‘23, the SGA Public Relations Officer, said “[the dress code] changed a lot, or at least, the way it’s enforced has changed a lot over the years. My sister went here, so she’s an alumnus. She graduated in 2019, and I used to come and visit the school, of course, for her plays, and it was definitely much stricter. We dressed a lot more business casual. I think a lot of things fly under the radar now.” 

Ryan Liese, Head of the Upper School, said, “it’s important for communities to agree on what a certain standard is and follow it from there…If people are interested in the dress code and interested in what it means, and interested in looking at ways to adjust it, they should try to do that. I don’t think just one group of people should be deciding that.”  

Because many have one firm opinion on the dress code, Liese feels it’s best to value all students and faculty’s options when deciding our school’s dress code. He said, “it’s important that if there are people that are interested in [changing the dress code], then it’s important to take all of those people into consideration when figuring out what’s the best plan to make a proposal.” 

Joining groups like the SGA can help put forth proposals for a new dress code. This year, shorts were added to the Upper School dress code after many students drew up proposals and met with members of the administration. While the dress code isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, it is not set in stone.