5-07-15 Fall Retreat & Dress Code (2nd Council Meeting)

Thursday's Council meeting, the last one before the summer break, focused on two main topics: Fall Retreat and the Dress Code.

The most prominent point of discussion was the price of Fall Retreat.

Here are the prices for the 2015 Fall Retreat (September 10th-12th) as approved by the Cabinet and Student Development:
$30 for freshmen
$60 for upperclassmen

For the freshmen, the $30 will be included in their tuition, so they'll be indirectly paying for their retreat. For the upperclassmen, they will have to come up with the $60 on their own. This comes as a surprising decision especially since Houses struggle to encourage their upperclassmen to attend. Although people share their awesome experiences about Fall Retreat, upperclassmen especially are reluctant to attend when the retreat itself doesn't change. The SBP stated that since his goal is to allow Houses to become financially self-sufficient, he doesn't want Houses to have to fundraise for Fall Retreat. This is in response to how the previous SBP, Maxine Fileta, handled the retreat fundraising by dividing the $50,000 goal amongst the ten Houses so that each House had to raise $5000. Reese wants Houses to focus their fundraising efforts solely on their own retreats, so he and the Cabinet agreed to raise the cost of tickets rather than ask Houses to fundraise. Members of the Cabinet express their dedication to House-flourishing as their main goal in their decision. The House presidents had no vote on the decision that Megan Phelps delivered.


The next point of discussion involved the Dress Code.

The House of Barton set up 15 minutes of open discussion about the King's "business casual" dress code. Members of the Cabinet jokingly brought up points from previous meetings about what "jeggings" are and whether or not they are appropriate. The Director of Student Organizations stated that Student Life was considering bringing in a fashion consultant to give a presentation on what "business casual" means.

Then, ten Boom asked that instead of trying to determine whether certain articles of clothing were allowed or prohibited, the Council should try to figure out the "spirit" of the dress code. The SBP pointed out that one big problem with the dress code is its "ambiguity." Barton stated that the dress code exists because it is "respectful" to the faculty and an "equalizing" factor for students to put everyone on the same agenda. QE1 brought up the fact that the problem is an institutional one because the dress code is "not really enforced". The SBP brought up conversations he's had with faculty and staff, and he said, "students believe it's the professor's responsibility to mark students absent for violating the dress code, but faculty think it's the students who should call each other out for violating the dress code." ten Boom then asked whether dress code confrontations are to be handled the same way as Honor Code violations. Reagan argued that dress code enforcement should stay within the Houses, and that House leaders should set the example when it comes to the dress code.

After this talk, the Director of Student Events initiated the formation of a dress code committee to write out a clear definition to present to Student Development. The committee will consist of the Dir. of Student Events, and the presidents of Lewis, Reagan, and ten Boom.

After this approval, the meeting then ended.


Have opinions or concerns? Voice them in the comments section below.