After many of the senior quote responses from this year’s class of 2020 seniors, administration has decided to eradicate senior quotes for the next year’s seniors. This comes as a shock to many soon-to-be seniors. However, there still may be hope for senior quotes for the class of 2021. 

Mrs. Prew, the yearbook advisor for Dakota Ridge, was a part of the decision to get rid of the quotes for next year.

“Historically, the purpose of senior quotes has been to choose an inspirational or possibly-funny statement from a well-known individual that represents who a student is or a student’s outlook on life. The purpose of senior quotes was not to choose something shocking, dubious, or possibly offensive, but that unfortunately has been the direction senior quotes have gone in recent years. Many students have chosen memes that reference controversial and inappropriate topics, which has resulted in me and the school’s administrators spending dozens of hours researching phrases and images on the internet to see if they might possibly be offensive. This is certainly not the intent of the senior quote tradition,” Prew said.

Between Mrs. Prew and other Dakota administrators, their job during the time of the school year was to go through the hundreds of quotes and find any offensive or inappropriate meanings.

“Between me, Mrs. Lucas, and Dr. Jelinek, we spent at least two dozen hours researching unfamiliar phrases and memes this year to try to weed out offensive quotes,” Prew said. “Some of the quotes included racist, homophobic, and violent references.” 

 Mrs. Prew does offer a solution to the problem, however.

“My hope would be to continue the senior quote tradition because, if approached properly, it gives students an opportunity to express themselves in a way that will live forever in their senior yearbook. At this time, the only viable option I see is to offer seniors a list of quotes from well-known figures such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dr. Suess, and have them choose a pre-approved quote.” 

Taking away senior quotes would cause a lot of disappointment for the class of 2021. Having prearranged quotes may be the next best option, but others may disagree.

“I feel like it will be bad next year when the seniors find out that we will not have them and many people have been waiting for it. Students have also been talking about which one they want. They will have issues with it. I think it’s unfair to this year, because that’s what people look forward to. Why not maybe have the yearbook staff do it?” said Gabi Pucci, part of the incoming senior class of 2021.

Mrs. Prew responded by saying that the administration could possibly get sued if an offensive quote is let into the yearbook.

Some other juniors also agree that it is a good idea to let the responsibility of senior quotes fall to the yearbook staff. “I will be willing to go through and make sure they are appropriate,” said soon-to-be senior Krysta Vander Poll. 

This would give the students in yearbook another daunting task on top of creating the yearbook. Other students have argued that they might be faster to sort through the quotes than the administration. “I think the yearbook should do it because we understand a lot more of the stuff than adults do,” said Sophia Sarche (11).  

Whether senior quotes happen next year or not, one thing to be sure of is that several future seniors will try their best to convince administration and Mrs. Prew that senior quotes have a vital place in the yearbook.