By Eric Miranda ’18

Outside University School, there is a very easy way to identify a Prepper: our school logo.

Whether it is a Cross Country runner in the vast woods of Hunting Valley, a soccer player tracking mud in the fields, or a student cruising on the road, the US logo on an article of clothing is what classifies us as a member of the US community. There is a single source for the apparel that expresses our pride in our school so well. All of the gear that has the US logo emblazoned can be bought at the University School Prep Shop.

Tucked into the side of the University School front entrance, the Prep Shop acts as a great source of revenue for the school. Throughout the school day, the Prep Shop provides students with promotional gear bearing the school’s symbol and name. Ranging from shirts, pants, ties, bowties, hats, and even mugs, the Prep Shop allows students to express our love for the school. However, students aren’t allowed to wear the gear we purchase in the Prep Shop during the school day. Wearing any of the gear in the US Prep shop would incite multiple infractions of the school dress code. To name a few:

1. Non-button down shirt (Code of conduct Section 2F1) 2. Non-solid colored shirt (Code of conduct Section 2F1)

This reveals a huge contradiction in the management of our dress code. Several students walk around all day wearing sweatshirts that don’t follow the school dress code, but hardly ever are punished. It is likely that more students have received a demerit from having an un-tucked shirt than wearing an out-of-uniform sweatshirt or vest. However, you will rarely observe anyone wearing gear purchased from the Prep Shop around the school, despite the fact that the funds from our purchases go straight to the school and the clothing has the school’s logo. It is a conundrum that the school is against the idea of students showing school pride in the very halls of University School. Rather, we are conformed to wearing button down shirts that give no indication of where we go to school. In the 2014-15 school year, there was a series of grey and blue sweatshirts that were sold at the US Prep Shop, emblazoned with our school name, that a student could buy. Students were allowed to wear the sweatshirt during the school year to keep warm. Fast-forward to this school year, and we no longer find those sweatshirts at the Prep Shop. When asking why the sweatshirts were no longer on sale, I was told that the sweatshirts didn’t uphold to the school dress code. You can still wear the sweatshirt if you purchased it during the previous year. It is time University School addresses this contradiction and allows us, the students, to freely express our adoration of the school through the clothing we buy at our very own school.