Since the beginning of coeducation at Andover nearly 40 years ago, students no longer make their way to the chapel dressed in the required suit, white shirt and necktie. With the merger of Abbot Academy and Andover came the greatest change in the schools’ dress policies. Gone were the long lists of clothing both the academies detailed in their dress code. Instead, this stereotypical tenant of prep school was replaced by a more liberal set of guidelines.
As has been the case at Lawrence High School since 2007, Andover once believed that a strict dress code was conducive to productive studying and proper behavior.
According to Frederick Allis Jr. ’31, author of the book “Youth from Every Quarter,” a survey conducted in 1970 by Alan Blackmer, then Dean of Faculty and author “Inquiry Into Student Unrest in Independent Boarding Schools,” revealed that students felt that the school had “[overly] strict regulations of dress codes and hair styles.”
As important as these guidelines may have seemed to the school at the time, student dissent from the dress code ensured that it could not withstand the transition to coeducation.
The current dress code at Andover calls for careful consideration on how “words, dress and actions influence others, and, in certain instances, have the potential to offend if they are not chosen thoughtfully,” according to the current edition of Andover’s “Blue Book.”
Although this policy gives students the freedom to dress as they choose, other problems arise, specifically those involving inclusion in such a diverse community as Andover’s. With 47 percent of students currently receiving some form of financial aid at Andover, the simple expedient of not being able to afford the clothing that the majority of campus wears means that students of lower socioeconomic status are often shunted aside and put at a disadvantage due to their inability to keep up with the apparent latest fashions.
“One of the main reasons lots of schools have [a dress code] is that it equalizes everyone; everyone looks the same, everyone has the same pair of pants, everyone has the same shirt, and I think there’s value from that side,” said Paul Murphy, Dean of Students.
Some students on full financial aid, including Harry Wright ’14, feel as though they need to earn extra money in order to fit in with their peers.
“[Having a job outside of school] is a cushion if you will: it makes it a little more comfortable and easier to get by in the day to day and fit into the often high-spending Andover culture,” said Wright.
Other students also experience issues of exclusion in regards to expectations for certain social events and situations.
“[Socioeconomic class] definitely does [disadvantage students in terms of clothing] to a certain extent because of events that we hold on campus a lot of the time, like the Gatsby one, where we’re expected to dress up,” said Gray Mackall ’15.
“I know there are kids on campus that don’t actually have a lot of fancy clothes… They are sort of excluded in a way from those sorts of events. I think in that respect, it kind of disadvantages them a little bit socially and in terms of every day whether or not that’s a big factor,” he continued.
The resulting tensions of these relatively liberal guidelines contradict some of the original intentions behind the transition from the strict dress code in the 1970s. In his book, “Youth from Every Quarter,” Allis stated that one of the hassles involved with the dress code policy was the pressures put on scholarship students to buy the expensive clothing that Andover required.
With such broad guidelines, confusion over the policy’s interpretation often follows. Students, faculty and administrators are sometimes split when it comes to their opinion of appropriate dress, and the question of who has the final interpretation arises.
“[We] allow students to make their own decisions, and what to wear is a very personal decision… There’s a lot of trust that’s involved with coming to school here,” said Murphy. He explained that while the Head of School is the final arbiter in terms of what is appropriate and not appropriate, final decisions regarding appropriate dress are left to the Cluster Deans.
“I think the benefits [of a lack of a dress code] are that it allows freedom and a little bit of expression,” said Jack Vogel ’16. Vogel also admitted that a liberal dress code “can take away from learning” by promoting immature behavior.
The discussion over appropriate dress at Andover was sparked by the October rewrite of the rules regarding dances at Andover.
In the rewrite, the administration banned “sexually suggestive dancing” and stated that students at dances may be asked to return to their dorms or homes by faculty chaperones if they are not “adequately clothed.”
The student reaction to these new rules was highly negative. In a Phillipian article addressing the issue, it was revealed that 81.3 percent of the students surveyed did not support a stricter dress code at dances.
“It felt regrettable that we needed to go in that direction, and people disagreed vehemently on that whole issue, but you can’t deny that it’s a real concern, when the adults start asking questions,” said Murphy.
“While this decision in our system is properly situated with the Deans, I am at your service. If any students would like to talk to me about it, please just let me know. I am happy to hear your views,” wrote Head of School John Palfrey in an email to the student body last November.
