Photograph by Allyn Suzuki
For years, Spirit Week has been based on class rivalry. Chants of “ONE EIGHT” and other graduating years can be heard throughout the hallways.
Administration has been trying to re-brand Spirit Week (now Unity Week) over the past few years as more of a coming together for all grades, discouraging class chants in favor of chants of “U-N-I-T-Y,” which begs the question: what does it mean to be unified?
Ben Esposito, a junior in Academic Choice (AC), said, “[Unity] means that everyone shows up despite our differences.” Esposito expressed that he felt a unified school was one where every student joins together in celebrating the space where we come together to learn.
Another student, Paolo Harris Paz, a senior in Communication Arts and Sciences (CAS), had a significantly different response. Paz was uninterested in unity, instead sharing a common sentiment, saying that the meaning of unity is in fact the friendly rivalry between classes.
He expounded further, saying that this competition was, “Part of the culture of Berkeley High and not necessarily divisive.”
Paz said that chanting class numbers and trying to out-chant other classes brings people together through a shared experience and a sense of connection with classes that have long since graduated.
The freshmen of today are the seniors of tomorrow, and the seniors of today were the freshmen of yesterday. The element of defining unity that remains constant is the tradition, and at some point in our high school career, we will find ourselves chanting each of the four grades. That, according to Paz, is unity.
An anonymous senior had a very different opinion. She said, “[Unity] means coming together as a school and supporting and lifting each class up, rather than maliciously competing.”
She saw the competition as something that pushed students apart unnecessarily. Unity, in her opinion, was something that was bred by a student culture of kinship that stretched across class boundaries — especially on the week that we set aside to show our school spirit.
BIHS Senior Chansey Davis had a similar opinion. Davis said the meaning of unity is “To come together as a community and celebrate our bond as a school.” Davis felt that Unity Weeks of the past often brought classes together, but missed out on uniting the school across grades.
The focus of a spirit week, for Davis, should be pride in one’s school, not one’s class.
Of the several students who shared their opinion, none shared quite the same definition. However, they shared a common sentiment: at the end of the day, we should all feel closer together not farther apart.
Whether these specific traditions further or deter us from this goal seems to be contentious, but, regardless, we know what that goal is. Ultimately, Unity Week should do what the name suggests: bring people together across class and grade. Celebrating school spirit should not create divides.
So, hop out of bed for pajama day. Roll into school in your superhero costume. Kick back on the green in West Coast fashion. Get ready to trip through time for decades day. And, proudly wear your school colors for “Red and Gold day.”