A shock came to the senior class when Principal Kiel Giese announced that no one would be allowed to customize their caps or other parts of their gowns for graduation. The announcement, made last week during a class meeting, was met with boos as the senior class showed their disapproval of a long-standing tradition. 

Traditionally, the decoration and personalization of graduation caps is to show classmates, as well as other members of the crowd, a little bit of a graduate’s personality, accomplishments, or what their plans are for after high school. The announcement especially came as a shock to senior Gabriella Ciccarelli, who had already bedazzled her cap with the Missouri State Bear logo, her future university.

“I was very upset because I already had my grad cap decorated. I was really excited to show it,” Ciccarelli said. “I literally bedazzled it, and it took a lot of time. I did it during my spring break, I had free time, and to see that it all goes to nothing, sucks.” 

Ciccarelli added that as long as it’s not hate speech, you should be allowed to decorate your caps. She could understand the decision more if the school rented out the caps and gowns, but she believes that since they purchase the attire themselves, they should be allowed to decorate them as their own property. 

Another student disappointed by the announcement is senior CJ Elmore. She also spent a couple of hours bedazzling  it and was excited to show off her design, her university’s mascot, an Arkansas Razorback. 

“[But I’m] very upset about the announcement because now my parents will not be able to point me out in the crowd,” Elmore said.

Elmore’s mom, Lyndy Elmore, felt the same way, and was looking forward to CJ’s cap helping her and her grandparents find CJ quickly in a sea of the same look. 

“Her dad and I are also just so super proud of her to have gotten into the school she wanted,” Lyndy said. “We were excited to see her celebrate that.”

CJ has emailed Giese two times since the announcement to see if she could schedule a meeting with him and go over her ideas in an attempt to find a compromise. 

 “I think there could have been other things that they could have done like maybe we could have shown it to them before we were able to wear it, like get it approved or maybe we could only put what school we were going to or something like that,” CJ said.

Lyndy also expressed that she was disappointed that the decision was likely a result of a few students’ actions in the past. She feels even if the decision had come sooner, she would have the same reaction, but would have at least suggested to CJ that she hold off on decorating her cap. 

“I have been just super proud of her during this process. She saw something she didn’t like, processed it, came up with possible solutions and then reached out to admin for a possible edit,” Lyndy said. “I hope she is heard, and a solution that is comfortable for all can be found.”

Giese was approached for an interview on Wednesday, and declined to speak at that moment and has not gotten back to Pirate Press with availability or a comment on the matter.