The Mill (Watkins Mill High School) has faced many changes this school year, from expanding announcements to Spanish to implementing Wolverine Wednesday; one tradition has been kept from the Goddard administration: insensitive prom dates. Let’s talk about it. 

After having consecutive prom dates fall on religious holidays, you’d think there’d be more consideration for when dates are selected, right?

Although not by choice of Class Council or Student Government Association (SGA), prom in 2022 was during Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar, involving fasting. In 2023, prom fell on Eid-al-Fitr, a religious holiday that marks the end of Ramadan and where families come together to celebrate. This year, prom was held during Passover, a seven-day observance for Jewish people to celebrate Jewish freedom from slavery in Egypt. Notice the pattern?

The biggest difference from all of these dates is administration.

The admin team was heavily involved in prom date selections during the Goddard administration. Acknowledging that prom would be held during a religious period, former Watkins Mill principal Carol Goddard asked Muslim students how they felt about it. The response was slightly positive, but was it really?

Is a student really able to comfortably criticize their administration’s decisions? Though they had the right to say they didn’t approve of it or that it wasn’t acceptable, what repercussions could that “no” come with? A huge power imbalance between both groups didn’t allow the truth to show.

In this case, an anonymous form could’ve encouraged more students to voice their opinions safely.

Now, under the Nájera administration, prom was held during a different religious period: Passover.

Considering that WM is a minority-majority school with students coming from various backgrounds, it’s vital that we respect each other’s customs. Students are meant to feel comfortable at school with teachers and administration regardless of beliefs and without the worry that they would have to pick between things they want to attend. This starts with the administration taking the first steps of acknowledgment to ensure minority students are seen and heard without fear of repercussions.