Recently, the commencement attire requirements at Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School (MICDS) have sparked a lively debate among students and parents, with some advocating for a switch to caps and gowns and others wanting to maintain the uniqueness of white formal attire and suits.
In a letter sent out by Administrative Assistant to the College Counseling Office Tori Menke, the school directed the graduating senior class to don floor-length white dresses, white jumpsuits or pantsuits, or suits for their commencement ceremony which will be held on May 19, 2024. MICDS graduation attire differs from other nearby schools including Ladue Horton Watkins High School and Clayton High School, which have commencement ceremonies whose attire consists of a traditional cap and gown, standardized for male and female students.
“Personally, I think part of the satisfaction of graduating is getting to wear the cap and gown and toss the cap in the air like they do in movies,” Ipsita Bhogaraju ‘24 said, “so I think it would be a much more satisfying graduation ceremony if we had caps and gowns. Also, buying the dresses is a little bit of a pain.”
“I prefer caps and gowns because everyone else does it and it seems more like something people would wear at graduation,” Krish Desai ‘24 said.
Sanjana Gandhi ‘25 also said, “I think it’s stupid that they make us graduate in wedding gowns because we’re not living in the 1850s, we’re going onto college, and everyone around us graduates in a cap and gown… I would love to have a cap and gown because that symbolizes graduation, not marriage.”
Some students, however, would like to maintain MICDS’ current commencement ceremony attire for future graduating classes.
“I prefer the current graduation attire for MICDS,” Amisha Poojari ‘25 said. “It’s pretty rare that you see high school seniors, especially girls in long white dresses, walk across without their traditional cap and gown to receive their diploma. The professional setting of our last time together as a class is encompassed so well in this look, and also fits our vibe as an elite college prep school in St. Louis. MICDS should continue our own tradition of grad dresses and professional outfits rather than conforming to the societal trends of normal caps and gowns.”
“Caps and gowns [are] such a ‘high school’ moment that everyone talks about,” Shivani Devrapally ‘24 said, “but at the same time, I like the uniqueness of our current attire. It’s cute and it’s definitely something that we’ll all remember.”
Omkaar Alakkassery ‘24 agreed, saying that “I think that the current graduation attire for MICDS is fine. It’d be cool if we had gowns and caps, but in lieu of that, I think the attire that we have right now is fine.”
Two parents also gave their input regarding the discussion of current commencement ceremony attire and caps and gowns.
“I personally feel that kids should be wearing caps and gowns for graduation rather than wedding gowns and formal suits. It’s an age-old tradition which should change based on changing times,” Sanjana Gandhi ‘25’s father, Umesh Gandhi said.
In contrast, Mona Ragone ‘24’s mother, Tyan Tan, said, “I like the current commencement attire because everybody in white looks really clean and neat and I like the look.”
A couple of current juniors at MICDS had slightly different perspectives from the rest, proposing solutions that could potentially satisfy both sides of the debate.
“I think the dresses are pretty,” Diya Makkapati ‘25 said, “but I also think we could do caps and gowns on top of the dresses [because] it makes everyone happy.”
Yash Malhotra ‘25 concurred, saying that “I think we should keep the current attire but add caps but no gowns because we’re a college preparatory school. We’re not like every other school, so I think we should keep the fancy attire because it looks really good, and just add caps because that is a fun tradition that everyone else does.”
