In 1969-70, the whole school banded together to change the dress code

I recently came across a Comment, at one of my previous posts, from Steven Lesser.

Comment from Steven Lesser regarding Newsletter #16

Newsletter #16 asks:

“…in the 69-70 somewhere, the whole school banded together to change one of the rule[s] in dress code. Do you remember which part of the code was being challenged?”

Do I ever. Boys were required to wear ties to school. We hated that. One day, towards the end of the school year, we held a big rally on the front steps of the school. As I recall, someone blew a trumpet to urge us on. Then we all took off our ties and marched in the front doors, tie-less. That was my first year at MCHS.

Because there were so many of us, the administration had to use the VisEd room for detentions. We sat for half an hour after school every day for a week.

But the next year: No more ties.

[End of text]

Additional Comment regarding dress codes and other topics

That’s a great Comment, at a previous post, and warrants a separate post. I graduated in 1963 and did not know about this detail about how the dress code at Malcolm Campbell High School evolved in subsequent years – in particular in the late 1960s, by which time the earlier graduates were at work or at university.

I also came across a Comment at another previous post, which I made in response to a Comment from Bill Jacobson about a previous dress code topic.

Here are a couple of Comments, from the above-noted post, which I’m reprinting here in order to bring attention to them:

Ted Speevak (August 12, 2015)

Regarding the “5 Minute Speeches”, there was an exchange of posts between Bill Jacobson, you & I.

Your last note (June 20/2015) on the subject stated:

“The key decisions about such matters are made by the organizing committee at our face to face meetings. We will bring forward the suggestions that have been made, by Bill Jacobson and Ted Speevak.

Since then there was another meeting of the organizing committee in July. What was decided @ that meeting?

Many Thanks;

– TS

Jaan Pill (August 13, 2015)

Ted:

We decided at the meeting that we will not have a series of five-minute speeches. There is one MCHS grad who had contacted us earlier, who wants to speak for five minutes about his career. He will have that opportunity. If a teacher from MCHS wants to say a few words, we will invite that person to say a few words. Aside from that, we’re not going to have a series of five-minute speeches.

Our focus, by way of storytelling, will be on the person-to-person conversations that occur when people mix and mingle during the Humber Buffet Dinner.

We have updated the MCHS 2015 website, regarding this topic.

Comments from you and from Bill Jacobson were closely taken into account, when we had the face-to-face meeting of the organizing committee on July 28, 2015 at St. Williams, Ontario.

Regarding Bill’s comments about the previous ‘dress code’ controversy, I feel it’s unfortunate that the organizing committee’s attempt to provide a helpful answer to an earlier inquiry, regarding what would be suitable for people to wear, at the reunion, would give rise to a particular view of where the organizing committee is coming from.

However, I for one am aware that it’s easy for a particular impression – about myself, by way of example – to develop, and that’s just a part of life. I take responsibility for the fact that I could have communicated the message better, with regard to the what-to-wear discussion. A person learns to live with the fact that some things that we do, as organizers, meet with a positive response, and some do not. One learns from such experiences.

We will be delighted if both Ted and Bill, and as many other grads as possible, do have the opportunity to attend the reunion. All MCHS Alumni have so much to offer, to ensure that we have the best get-together that is possible, for those of us who remember MCHS from half a century ago, give or take a few years. Every person who attends is the star of the show. That’s a consistent theme that has been emerging, in all of the organizing meetings that we’ve had to date.

Best,

Jaan