On Sept. 19, Principal Judson Miller spoke with the National Honors Society club members about the recent homecoming dance cancellation at Hellgate and addressed the future of dances at Hellgate. The cancellation came five days before the dance was supposed to take place. Miller discussed concerns regarding school etiquette in dances, as well as issues with the amount of effort required to put on the dances. He emphasized the lack of energy and support for smaller school dances within the student body. Ending the meeting he stated that as of now, dances other than prom will not be in the future.
Prior to the meeting, Miller sent out an email to parents outlining the reasoning for his decision to discontinue homecoming. The outlined reasons included, adverse behaviors seen at dances from students and parents, amount of resources required to put on a dance and disagreements within the student body on how to put on a “fun” dance and what is considered appropriate.
“HHS can no longer be in the entertainment business,” said Miller in the email. Miller elaborated saying that “the expectation is that school sponsored dances function like a safe nightclub,” expanding on the unrealistic expectations he finds are present within such events.
“You guys are always gonna think that whatever product I put forward isn’t very good,” Miller later said in an interview. Miller went on to say that schools are responsible for putting on much more social events than 10 to 15 years ago. “I would much rather have those resources going into educational purposes,” said Miller.
Senior Ally Parsons said that the timing of the situation was the most frustrating. “I know people that had already bought dresses,” said Parsons, noting that some of her friends had spent upwards of $80. Parsons said that this announcement, although disappointing, wasn’t surprising given Hellgate past attempts at dances. “I was just expecting it to be canceled anyway,” she said.
Similarly, senior Sawyer Reed sees the disappointment within some of the student body and especially underclassmen. “It is kind of sad we haven’t had one in five years” said Reed, referring to the lack of dances other than prom.
“Prom is going to stay. It’s a really important high school experience, it caters to an older group of students and it’s off campus,” said Miller.
“The problem is that for the past 10 years, every dance that I have done I have gotten emails the next day,” said Miller, going on to say that the general opinion is people either thinking that the dance was no fun, too sexualized, or it was fine. “I’m just not able to provide a consistent experience,” said Miller.
“I think that everyone expected it,” said junior Story Caldwell. Caldwell said that she was not planning to go, and the cancellation didn’t upset her too much.
Senior Anika Stimec said that the blanket statement of no future dances besides prom was “a little harsh”.
The behaviors which Miller partially credits for this decision consist of students arriving under the influence, parents attempting to pick up kids under the influence and arriving late, and students sneaking out of the dance location into the school. “All of those things combined make a pretty miserable experience,” said Miller.
Students within the NHS meeting met this announcement with extensive questions regarding how other schools are able to put on dances. Miller overall answered these by saying it is not the lack of ability, it is the lack of attendance and the behavior that has been the root of the issue. Miller said that resources would be better reallocated to other parts of the school. NHS students overall seemed disappointed by the announcement.
Parsons, like many other students, finds dances to be one of the ways for the Hellgate community to connect outside of school hours. “That’s where you socialize and where you meet new friends, you hang out with friends who go to your school,” said Parsons. However, a lot of students like Caldwell don’t feel extremely saddened by this announcement.
Miller emphasized other areas to find common ground between school functions and events everyone finds enjoyable, such as the GOAT game. “This isn’t me intentionally trying to be adversarial,” said Miller. “I have to attend to the brand of Hellgate High School and the liabilities of Hellgate.”
