Phil Reisman

preisman@lohud.com

A new front has opened up in the culture wars.

The latest fight is playing out at New Rochelle High School where a number of students and alumni are outraged over a new rule that would make graduation caps and gowns one color, or gender-neutral.

Instead of white for girls and purple for boys — the traditional school colors — all graduates, regardless of their sexual identification, will be issued purple regalia, according to school Principal Reginald Richardson.

The new policy won’t go into effect until the 2017 commencement.

Educators schooled on gender, identity issues at Yorktown workshop

AP: Cuomo bans non-essential state travel to N.C.

Letter: 'Bathroom bill' not bigotry, but common sense

In an advisory letter to school families, Richardson said a single color symbolizes equality for all students, including those “that have begun the journey of identifying as transgender, gender neutral, gender fluid, or non-binary gender.”

He said the change is “an important step toward creating an atmosphere that allows all of our students to enjoy the capstone event of their high school careers equally, without the anxiety or fear that gender-specific colors might cause.”

But ardent traditionalists say this is a classic case of autocratic overreach and a poor attempt to placate the concerns of a few kids at the expense of all the rest.

“It’s going to end a tradition which the community is very proud of and has an emotional interest in,” said Mark McLean, a lifelong city resident. “And you’re just unilaterally destroying it.”

McLean said Richardson is imposing a “radical ideology.”

“I graduated wearing purple,” said McLean, a member of the class of ‘81. “My daughter graduated wearing white. My two sons graduated wearing purple. My father and mother graduated wearing purple and white. They’re 87 years old. This is a long-standing tradition.”

With more than 3,300 students, New Rochelle High School is exceptionally large and, with 60 countries represented, is also considered to be one of the most diverse schools in the country — if not the most diverse. Open-mindedness is a school hallmark and has been for some time.

That’s why McLean stressed that the debate, to his mind, wasn’t over the sexual orientation of any particular group of students. His gripe, rather, was the unilateral decision-making “process” employed by the school board and administration.

Nevertheless, McLean was concerned that his cause would be misinterpreted as intolerance.

“These kids have a hard enough life as it is,” he said. “This is America and they have right to the pursuit of happiness. So I’m very uneasy to target the kids. It’s not the kids that are the issue — they aren’t what I take exception to.”

McLean is hardly alone. As of midday Wednesday, a change.org petition calling for “saving the traditional attire” had 626 signatures. Some of the signed comments accompanying the petition were specifically critical of Richardson, alleging that he was dismissive of their point of view and had rammed the commencement policy through without a proper public airing.

Richardson originally wanted to put the policy into effect this year, but was persuaded to wait until next year when a number of girls complained that their yearbook photos had already been taken with them dressed in white.

If you think you’ve seen this movie before, you have.

Over the winter, Greenwich High School went through a similar battle over the sudden imposition of a gender-neutral commencement policy. However, after an outcry, the school’s headmaster quickly backed off and came up with a compromise. The students are now free to choose the color they want — in this case, red or white. Each gown will have a stripe in the opposite color on the sleeve.

This looks like a reasonable solution, and it’s basically an idea that McLean said he supports for New Rochelle.

It’s about freedom of choice.

“That’s the beauty of it,” he said. “You serve the rights of the transgender without trampling on the rights of the vast majority of kids that want to identify as girls and boys.”

I called Richardson on Wednesday to ask him about this counter proposal. Instead of speaking to me on the phone, he released a statement through one of the school’s public relations representatives.

“I acknowledge that change is hard,” he said. “At the same time, it is important to recognize that no student should be forced to choose a graduation gown color, particularly if choosing the color could pose a significant emotional burden related to declaring an identity.”

In other words, Richardson is not giving in.

McLean told me that he never dreamed that this sort of culture war would come to New Rochelle. Nevertheless he said he feels he must continue the fight.

“There are deeper issues that we need to be focusing on,” he said. “But I really value the tradition that they’re talking about here.”