Uniform policy in Ateneo de Zamboanga

The newly implemented uniform policy does not fit in a University education. There’s absolutely no reason for its implementation, it is illogical and stupid to say the least.

The Adzu administration implemented the uniform policy for what reasons? Sad to say but it seems that the only logical reason is that it is merely just an act of retribution against the unruly students who cannot faithfully abide by the university dress code. Perhaps it pissed them off that they can't handle these students who take their polos off just when they get past the gates. It pissed them off that male ateneo students defies the university dress code whenever they can, and justifiably so, and defies their authority in return just as a bastard son would to a father. So they try and resolve the problem by resorting to something as far more mind bending as the dress code policy.

The implementation of the policy did not only further infuriate almost the entire male population of Adzu, but also proved how slowly this university seems to be heading to one ultimate direction- to nowhere.

A University should always be progressive, not backward. If they think that they can fool everyone by conjuring up stories, I mean surveys, (in this case, they might actually have) that majority of the Adzu population agrees with the policy, then they must have caused a great deal of insult against their own students. Why would the administration ask, and eventually leave them to decide because they are the majority, students who have got nothing to do with the males wearing uniforms? The girls? I mean the ladies.

Why would they ask the ladies, if they want their male classmates to wear a high school inspired blue or white uniform (uniform?) polo with a tansan seal, even if that particular female student has for a boyfriend, half of the male Adzu population? Since when did they bother asking the boys if they thought the girls looked sexy in theirs?

The only people worth asking are the people concerned, the people who would actually wear the uniform, pay for them, wash them, wear them, wear them, pay for them again and suffer from them. The administration simply cowered behind the girls unsolicited calls for equality and "fairness," which is as ridiculous a reason as the administrations free-for-all surveys.

Every University policy, especially those that directly concern the students, should be initially addressed and consulted to the students. It's simply protocol, unless Adzu is some kind of military training facility of course.

The surveys made was a mistake, they shouldn't have involved the females. First of all, the policy does not concern them, secondly, because they are simply the majority, and lastly because their reasons for voting for the policy is just unacceptable.

The girls believed that by making the males wear uniforms that it would make everything "fair" and equal simply because this is a policy that they feel bad about, even for themselves- especially for themselves. There's no doubt that they've wanted the same privilege and independence with regard to what one college student should and should not wear ever since.

It makes it fair and equal not because the girls would want the boys to enjoy the same glory and joy (pft) of wearing a uniform- it's just totally the opposite. The girls voted for the policy so that they wouldn't have to suffer alone from the policy. The uniform had always had a negative appeal to Adzu college students, no doubt about it. We can't blame the administration if that is how they perceive equality and fairness, but we can always question it.

Wearing a uniform defies what a University education should be. The uniform policy is not a security issue, flashing a uniform to get pass the school gates is much easier than flashing a borrowed I.D. It is definitely not an economic issue as well. A single Adzu polo can buy you 5 polo shirts to be used for the entire week without having to wash one. Besides, if the Ateneo truly believes in the virtue of frugality, then why don't they serve as good models and stop making tuition fee hikes look like an annual hiking event?

University education speaks of independence and freedom. It should imbibe in their students a sense of individuality, sense of pride and self expression- a sense of responsibility, not to confine their students in the four walls of the classroom bounded by policies that hinders their potentials to be productive and matured individuals- to stop them from being who and what they truly are.

The Ateneo is not high school where in every single student does what her seat mate does. This is not high school where in we are in constant need for assistance, counseling, no matter how unruly and irresponsible some of the students are. We do not need some kindergarten teacher to look after us like we're autistic boys and girls who might get rammed by a 10 wheeler truck. This is college for crying out loud.

College students choose their own courses, they choose what they want to become. They choose their own subjects, their own programs, even their own schedules. College students think what they want to think, and has all the freedom to choose whether he or she wants to skip the next class or not. A University prepares its students for the real world, not to confine them inside an atmosphere where in everything is prim and proper and by the book. Sense of responsibility is to be learned, not implemented. Isn't that how University education is supposed to be?

It is imperative that an academic institution such as the Adzu should have the courage to adapt to the times, and not live in its past. An 18 year old girl wearing a sleeveless shirt in the 60's is crazy, an 18 year old college girl wearing a Maria Clara today is just as crazy. If the administration aims for equality and progress, then they should take the burden off the students, not add up to it. If the Ateneo is sincere in trying to attain the quality of education and the kind of student that the Ateneo deserves, then they've just made a mistake. The Uniform policy just does not fit the kind of quality University education that the Adzu and its students deserve.