As CDH adds new options for males and the entire student body, it will also take away a beloved female uniform item.
Many rising seniors look forward to their first day of school photos, warmer weather, and decision day. All of these activities have one thing in common for senior girls, the black uniform skirt. Since the merger between Cretin and Derham Hall, every girl has worn either a skirt or a jumper, and starting next in the 2026-2027 school year, neither will be available for students. When making this decision, CDH states that 64% of parents wanted to discontinue the skirt option. When it comes to the survey results, who participated? In a Student Council Meeting the results were introduced as different rounds of results going out to parents and students at different times this school year. There are currently 860 students at CDH, along with their parents who could have filled out the uniform policy survey. Less than 300 people filled out this survey.
Sophomore Muggs McMahon was in the meeting when the survey results and the impending decisions of next year were announced. She is also a member of CDH’s Student Council. She started a petition to reverse the decision and presented it to the Administration of Cretin-Derham Hall. The petition described reasons why removing the skirt is such a big deal to female students. “Girls should be able to wear skirts because ‘look good feel good do good’. I wish the student body had a say in what happened at CDH when we are the ones affected by it.” Mugg’s petition currently has 209 signatures from girls of all grades. In the petition Muggs also adds, “ As a member of the CDH student council, the elimination of skirts was never discussed or debated. The only discussion concerning skirts was adding an athletic option, and at no time was it mentioned that skirts would be totally eliminated. Out of the eleven survey questions, not one asked the students about the elimination of skirts.”
Seniors who are leaving this year look back and say they wish the skirt was not being removed for juniors and other underclassmen. Taylor Williams, a senior, said “It’s taking away feminity in a way. Our skirts are the only thing we have left.” When asked, Senior Teagan Wheaton described the skirts as a “Form of identity”. As the year wraps up, we look back at the accomplishments of this new uniform policy as well.
Next year, male students will be allowed to wear earrings on Cretin-Derham Hall’s campus for the first time ever. This was found to be supported by 90% of students while only 76% supported nose rings. The student body’s overwhelming support in favor of earrings was the strongest overall percentage in any category throughout the survey. (Students in favor of a skirt as an option was not a category listed in the survey).
Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, Cretin-Derham Hall will also be adding purple polos and quarter zips to the uniform. The added colors will be the first color added to the daily school uniform, as the options have been limited to only black or white before. “I think adding purple modernizes our uniform and our current ones represent the history of CDH and the brothers and sisters who founded us.” Nora DeZell said about the new uniform change.
