The Consistency of Inconsistency: An Ode to the Upper Division Dress Code

Everyone knows the cozy feeling that is pulling on a hoodie in the brisk morning air, obtaining that much sought after warmth. Equally as great is pulling the hood over your head to keep your ears covered from the cold Winter wind. What if I told you that in another world there were no hoodies to protect you from the cold? The only refuge one could seek from the cold was a size too small blazer purchased Freshman year.This world I just described to you is Casady School's Upper Division. The dress code policy states that boys and girls cannot wear hoodies to Chapel or Lunch. Everyone knows that whatever deity you believe or don't believe in absolutely hates it when you wear a sweatshirt in their house of worship, and that adorning oneself in a hoodie actually makes it more difficult to eat (as with each spoonful of soup, you must make the decision to put it in your mouth, or place it in the hood of your sweatshirt to be eaten later, like a hamster uses its cheeks).As if that isn't bad enough, it so happens that the lengthiest walks outside for Casady students are when they go to chapel and lunch, and they are not allowed to wear a hoodie while doing so. The counterargument to this, of course, is to wear one's hoodie to chapel or to lunch, and then to take it off upon arrival. I know boys really love having to put a blazer on over their sweatshirt, taking their blazer off, taking their sweatshirt off, and then putting their blazer back on in a cramped chapel row; or taking the five minutes to do so in lunch, which equates to one sixth of the lengthy thirty minutes the school allots for eating.  Not to mention the fun times had by all when the entire row or table erupts into an electrical storm of static activity while doing so.This is simply one of the many things that seems to be wrong with the Casady dress code. It seems like that if someone is wearing all the other proper attire, it shouldn't matter if they wear a hoodie on top of it all, no matter what time of the day it is. This is especially concerning in a system in which both genders could probably get away with wearing a tee shirt every day, due to an inconsistent enforcement policy. Girls that are wearing a nice looking top can be asked to change simply because their neck line is "too low," or if their dresses or skirts are not a Puritan-esque dollar bill's length above their knee, while another girl or boy can walk by in a tee shirt and jeans and not be disciplined at all. It almost seems as if having a minor dress code violation is more egregious than not following the dress code at all.Another inconsistency in the dress code comes when sporting events are going on. It seems as if the basketball and football teams are allowed to come in their jerseys every time they have a game, but if wrestling and swimming have a meet, and they come out of uniform, they are punished for it because they are not "allowed to." Why not simply say "if you have a sporting event, you may come in your sports attire" and not have to worry about it anymore? The world may never know.Despite the inconsistencies, the dress code has its upsides. It is nice to be able to escape the pain that was the middle school uniforms in favor of wearing what one chooses. Students get to enjoy the stylistic choices of others, and to the best of their ability, be comfortable. However, it is in the inconsistencies of its enforcement that the issues arrive. It seems pretty ridiculous to get in trouble for a wearing a hoodie or having an untucked shirt if the person sitting beside you is wearing sweat pants and a tee shirt. Perhaps the enforcement system should tackle those who blatantly don't follow the dress code, rather than those who barely fall out of its confines from time to time.