Staff Ed: Senior Variety Show tradition dies, class of 2012 not solely to blame
December 15, 2011
Filed under Staff Ed: The Patriot Perspective, Staff opinion
Seniors, take a good, long look at the ring on your finger. It seems to be the only tradition left.
Variety Show is dead. While some could argue that the show goes against Catholic ethics and morality, graduates still look forward to their unofficial class reunion, and underclassmen look forward to this unofficial senior privilege.
No one person, or even one class, can be accused of bringing down a 40-year tradition. Its cancellation was a culmination of various factors, including hurtful material, administrative intolerance, and student objection.
Reactions to the Variety Show cancellation have ranged from disappointment to anger, especially from recent alumni. Every student who has a Facebook has probably seen the outraged and accusatory comments from alumni blowing up their news feed.
Most of the blame is directed at the class of 2012 for ruining the beloved tradition without considering that alumni also added to the reasons for its cancellation.
Current underclassmen and alumni have misplaced the blame of the cancellation solely on the current senior class, when they don’t know the full story.
There were several seniors that attended every single practice, wrote entertaining scripts instead of doing their homework, and genuinely tried to create a memorable show. However, their efforts were not enough to save the Variety Show. The time they dedicated to the cancelled show was, frankly, wasted.
Other seniors disagreed with the fact that they weren’t allowed to explicitly make fun of other students, past or present. Their disinterest in participating was apparent at every poorly attended practice.
Sure, the date change from November to January was an unwelcome obstacle, but the class of 2012 could’ve still had a Variety Show. Instead, certain students decided to protest the restrictions by not participating.
For Variety Show to be successfully pulled off, everyone must play their part.
For the class of 2013, if you disagree that a 40-year tradition should end so abruptly, don’t let it. Just because the class of 2012 was unable to uphold the tradition does not mean that it cannot be brought back.
Handle the situation with maturity and dedication. Content cannot be what it was in the past with students being singled out. However, that doesn’t mean that the show won’t be entertaining. Take the Variety Show into consideration when you vote for your class officers.
Everyone has something to contribute. There are a variety of talents that students possess, such as singing, acting, or playing an instrument, among others. Choosing three diverse students to lead the senior class will result in drawing a variety of participants to take part in the performance.
Now, to the class of 2012. Regarding the material that was created for the Variety Show, that work doesn’t have to go to waste. Whether it’s an underground Variety Show or a smaller performance during school, students’ hardwork towards their skits shouldn’t be forgotten.
The senior class still has an opportunity to make a positive impression with how they choose to raise money for prom. Class officers have fundraising ideas including a blacklight dance, but all seniors need to contribute their ideas and their time to avoid having to pay their prom ticket out in monthly installments.
As for the administration, Variety Show should be treated as more than just a fundraiser for other events that take place during senior year. The tradition of seniors teasing teachers, alumni, and current students is a unique way to create class unity. However, to keep it a true Variety Show, it must be held before Thanksgiving.
In order to achieve this, senior class meetings must begin earlier in the year to ensure that these problems won’t arise again. Starting earlier ensures success.
JC has been recognized for its legacies and traditions, but it has recently gone too far into the new.
There’s no homeroom, no hallway to decorate during Spirit Week, no Powderpuff game during school, and no Country Fair. Let’s make sure that Variety Show isn’t the next addition to that list.
I would like to start off by saying, this is a very well written editorial by The Patriot staff that makes great points. As sad as I am for the class of 2012; I am even more sad for the JC community as a whole because of the loss of so many traditions over the past few years, namely the variety show. For any school, traditions are huge, but because our alumni have such local roots and often send their children there I think it makes it all the more difficult. As disappointing as it is to see something like the Powderpuff game be moved, or the country fair changed, the senior variety show has been around, as you said in the article, for 40 years and it is a shame to hear that it has been cancelled. I really hope that the class of 2013 works as hard as they can to bring it back. That being said, I do not think the class of 2012 deserves the blame that some have given them; no one person or group of people deserve that. Many of the traditions have been around since or around JC’s establishment, another reason losing them is such a terrible blow.
Just a little, personal anecdote about JC traditions:
A friend that I met at college, her father graduated from JC and still has ties to the community and relationships with former teachers even though they now live in the greater Philadelphia area. She recognized my JC class ring as the same one her father wears on the daily. It is traditions like this that connect the alumni to the current students and to see something like that die, really is a blow to the community overall.
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