For most students, pep rally is a familiar event: over a thousand individuals– students and faculty– gather in a gym that is covered in red, white, gray and blue balloons, posters, and confetti. Music blasts as students unite with their graduating class to build energy for Saturday’s Homecoming football game. While the Friday of Spirit Week was in the past branded as a “Color Wars”– each grade wearing a different color– the event was not appreciated by all students.

Earlier this month, a three-page long petition signed by students landed on Dr. Simmons’ desk, requesting to be excused from Homecoming celebrations– an event that to them created more division than unity.

Recognizing the “division” that “Color Wars” created, Dr. Simmons updated the tradition, assigning Seniors to wear red while every other grade wears white.

Not all students agree with this change.

“It’s called Color Wars for a reason,” senior Caitlin McSweeney said. “Everyone else got to wear different colors in the past, so it’s not fair to the freshmen.”

Juniors are planning their own individual forms of protest: Juniors Ryan Wertz and Chris Pergola both said they planned to wear blue to Friday’s Pep Rally.

However, senior Tavia Sherman, a member of the Leadership class, said that Juniors should wear white if they want Pep Rally to exist next year.

“The administrators were very close to taking Pep Rally away this year,” Sherman said.

Even decorating with this new color scheme poses a challenge, said Junior and member of the Leadership class Olivia DiSilvestri.

“All the decorations look the same because we could only use red and white,” DiSilvestri said.

Principal Dr. Simmons said that he never saw pep rally as a “Color [War],” but as a targeting of one specific group of students– especially the chant that upperclassmen typically shout towards freshmen when they enter pep rally.

“It was more than just a chant. It was degrading treatment of one group,” Simmons said. “Why should we embrace something that’s harming our students?”

Simmons said that in past years dividing the student body into separate colors was “detrimental to what we do as a school.”

“That’s what the focus should be: one school, one community,” Simmons said. “Homecoming should be our colors. It’s what we are. It’s who we are.”

While certain voices around the school are calling Simmons’ change as a disservice to underclassmen, it is clear through the three-page long petition that not all students feel that way. Instead, there appears to be a disconnect between student opinions.

Looking towards the future, Dr. Simmons made clear that students will hold the power to change or eradicate Homecoming festivities.

“Truth be told: the future is based on student behavior. Students are in control,” Simmons said.