Harriton High School Student Makes Case For 'Mr' Harriton

The following letter to the editor was submitted to Patch. Letters to the editor are not written by Patch and do not reflect the opinions of Patch or its employees. Their aim is to foster dialogue around important issues and to give local residents a voice.

Mr. Harriton: The Unanticipated Impact of Deleting Two Letters

Over the past 11 years, Mr. Harriton, a charity event hosted by Harriton High School, has
garnered a reputation for positive community involvement. Students, administrators, and faculty
have worked year after year to create a show and brand that consistently sells out its $15
tickets, raffles, and corporate sponsorships. In the past few years, it has earned over $30,000
for charity. This year, however, LMSD administration has put an end to the “Mr. Harriton”
moniker.

In accordance with its strategic plan for gender inclusion, LMSD directed Student Council to
change the name to something gender neutral arguing that, despite the Title IX status of Mr.
Harriton outlawing discrimination on the basis of gender, the name discourages students who
do not identify as male from competing. Historically, women have participated in all aspects of
production and in the show as partners to the 10 male contestants but not as contestants
themselves. If this is the new standard, where does it end? Do we need change “Boys Football”
to “Football” to protect girls’ who may want to play on the team? Do we have to change “Girls
Volleyball” to “Volleyball” to protect boys Title IX rights?

Changing Mr. Harriton’s name has many implications that we as a community need to consider.

The intention of changing Mr. Harriton’s culture to encourage female contestants is only valid if
it is shared by the student body. The school missed an opportunity to teach a real-world lesson:
cultural change happens with conversation and collaboration between the government and the
governed, not through issuing ultimatums. The administration opened a dialogue about name
changes with Student Council early in the year, but when no progress towards a name change
was made in the interim, administrators ordered last week for the name to be changed.
Administrators did not give enough guidance on how to change 11 years of institutional tradition.

A new name is a shortsighted and half-baked reaction to the perceived problem of gender
exclusion. Female students won’t be encouraged to join if only the name is changed because
the show’s concept is male-oriented. Mr. Harriton pokes fun at masculinity and established
gender roles by embarrassing male contestants on stage, having them dance, and perform in a
mock beauty pageant. Yes, Mr. Harriton was made for “Mr.” contestants but it is a satire on
masculinity, not a sexist and unequal celebration of male students. This is where the
administration has missed the point.

Why break a successful reputation and tried and true concept that has been an 11-year
tradition? At this point, a week before the first rehearsals, the time has passed to create a new
show and brand. Nonetheless, if the show continues under a different name, the greatest risk
comes if we fail through lack of effective publicity to get people to embrace this new brand. In
the worst case, people won’t know to attend, businesses won’t know to support and thus we
lose out on raising the most amount of money for charity, which would be a shame. We have an obligation to the stakeholding businesses, organizations and charities that depend on our event.

Let us not forget our end goal of bringing our community together to successfully fundraise.

We might as well keep the name Mr. Harriton for this show and save this conversation for next
year when we can take the time to make a change that will satisfy our goals of school spirit and
giving to charity. Sure enough, as of the time I’m writing this all but one person who has signed
up for this year's gender-neutral, tentatively named, “Harriton Student Council Charity Show” are male, showing that culture surrounding the event hasn’t changed with the new name.

In the end, we all must remember that our ultimate goal to raise money will be hindered by a
short-sighted name change, hasty planning, and a student council that has never been given
the tools to induce this cultural shift.

Ben Newman