Homecoming season. It’s the time of year where high school students everywhere are abuzz with the excitement of looking for dresses and dates. Once you’ve got the perfect outfit and said yes to the HOCO-proposal, the one thing on your mind is that early-fall dance. 

Wait—maybe not Westminster students. According to the laws that have been in place since the founding of the school, Westminster isn’t allowed to sponsor a homecoming or prom dance. Lame, right? Seems a little too similar to the 80’s movie Footloose. While it is true that a long time ago the school board made a policy that Westminster was not going to sponsor school dances, the reasoning behind this law makes more sense once you look a little deeper into it. 

I’ve heard endless Westminster students say, “Well dancing is biblical, Jesus says dance can be a form of worship.” That’s right, he does. The laws of the school are not against dancing itself, just the grey area of what dance moves and songs should be promoted in a Christan environment. Even some songs that we wouldn’t think of to be inappropriate have implications of ideas and behaviors that aren’t Christian, and families have different opinions on what is and is not acceptable. Culture is inherently not Christian, which makes it hard for a Christian school to support an environment that could offend many Christian families.

According to Dr. Barrett Mosbacker, Head of School, students should have a high school dance they enjoy. That’s why the school does not step in to sponsor a dance: it wouldn’t exactly be most people’s idea of a good time. “Trust me, the students do not want Dr. Mosbacker choosing the genre, the music, or the dance moves…if I get involved, the kids are not gonna like what I approve of,” said Mosbacker. Westminster students definitely do not want to be dancing to Kidz Bop with pre-approved dance moves all night, which is why administration allows and provides parents with the tools to put on a homecoming.

The school does genuinely want their students to have a good high school experience. It’s easier for parents at the school to come together and sponsor a dance that they agree with and feel comfortable with their kids attending than have the school jump through endless hoops to make a boring night that nobody would enjoy. This way, students can have a good time, parents can feel good about the event their kids attend, and the school does not have to worry about organizing an impossible way around dancing and music in a non-Christian culture. It may seem like Westminster is living in an 80’s movie, but at least we can still dance outside of campus property.