The girl with the sign taped to her back that she’s fully aware of. The other one walking by her handing out candy to the senior guys. The one dressed in ridiculous overalls with her hair put up in some absurd fashion. We’ve all seen this during homecoming week in years past, but this year, Senior Sisters is being banned by the administration.

It was communicated to the senior girls first who were called down to the auditorium to find out the news that they could not have a freshman sister this year. The initial reaction was obviously mixed, but many people were very upset when the ruling first came down.

“I think people were upset because they’re missing out on something they were looking forward to in senior year,” said senior Emily Whyte. “[There was] definitely a negative reaction.”

And this is something that the administration was probably expecting seeing as Senior Sisters has been a staple of homecoming week for so long. But in recent years, the freshmen have been pushed to do things that could easily be viewed as crossing the line.

Talking to some current freshmen, they said that they had heard of a “few mishaps” and that the senior girls had probably made the freshmen do some things they shouldn’t have.

Senior Kristin Huffman agreed, but added that Senior Sisters has also been about more than just making the freshmen look ridiculous.

“I know it gets out of hand sometimes, especially in the years past, but Senior Sisters was created in order to influence the freshmen to become more spirited along with the senior class.”

An anonymous freshman also echoed Huffman’s thoughts on the matter, and voiced her opinion on the ruling.

“I think [Senior Sisters] should be allowed as long as we don’t do inappropriate stuff. And I think it’s cool that we are able to interact with upperclassman and get to know them.”

An anonymous senior also commented that they believed Senior Sisters should still be allowed this year.

“When I remember back to my freshman year and I had a senior sister, it was one of the best weeks of my entire highschool career. At the sleepover that we had, I got to know so many seniors, and I felt like I belonged in the school and it was a very uplifting thing for me. So I don’t support [the decision].”

And this raises the question: should the school be able to control if people participate in Senior Sisters? It is obviously occurring in the school; however, some argue that the freshmen should realize that they signed up for it, and be prepared to handle what the seniors tell them to do.

“[The school] should say if it’s allowed or not, especially with how out of hand it got in years past,” said Huffman. “But I think they should still allow us to do it. They should have the decision, but we should be doing it.”

One of the most likely reasons that Senior Sisters isn’t happening this year is that it has recently been viewed more as a form of bullying and a distraction in class. However, not everyone sees it this way.

“But from my perspective, from what I’ve seen every year, and what I would plan to do to my freshman sister, it’s not bullying,” said an anonymous senior. “Rather, trying to get to know them, trying to make them feel included in the school, and trying to celebrate homecoming week because you only have four and it’s our last one already.”

And because some of the students, seniors and freshmen alike, don’t agree with the decision by the administration, it seems that there will likely be some people still that participate in Senior Sisters. But there are also people that are choosing to do it because they have been looking forward to it for a long time, and already had their sister picked out.

“I feel like some people are mad, especially if they were planning on having [a senior sister,]” said an anonymous freshman. “But they’re still going to do it anyway.”

Huffman agrees that there will still likely be students who participate against the wishes of the administration, but also urges them to lean on the side of caution.

“I do [think that people will still end up doing it,] and hopefully the people who do do it will be smart and do it correctly and not try to break any more rules and get us in any more trouble.”