This year the junior-senior prom was originally scheduled for April 12, which coincided with the first day of Passover, a major holiday observed by the Jewish religion. Recently, students and community members protested the scheduling with a petition, resulting in the date and location change to May 3.
“I created the petition to raise awareness about the amount of discrimination minority groups in the United States receive. It was almost like when I was telling people that I was going to make a petition about Prom being on Passover, everyone had a reason why it wouldn’t work, and I wanted to prove that our students will make a change,” senior Vee Pressley said. “I think that these types of rationalizations that lead to giving up before you even try are the reason why so many discrimination issues never get off the ground. I’m not just fighting for my Jewish community but I’m fighting for every other minority here.”
The new prom date is not without some compromise, as it now aligns with the start of AP exams. Additionally, the new location for the event, the Greater Richmond Convention Center, is not a common location for a school dance.
“I feel sort of disappointed because the location for prom has now switched and it’s annoying because I no longer want to go as much because the date is close to AP exams,” junior Arissa Chen said.
The online petition was discontinued early after receiving over 170 students’ responses Pressley felt the goal of raising awareness and giving students something to act upon was met. The students’ efforts were met with results on March 13 when principal Dr. Brian Fellows announced that prom would be moved to May 3, allowing students to both honor the Passover holiday and still attend their prom.
‘As a school community, we are committed to being inclusive and respectful of all religious holidays. However, when planning this year’s prom, we selected April 12 and we failed to consider that the date coincides with Passover. We fell short of our goal of being inclusive and respectful of religious holidays – and for that I am truly sorry,” Fellows said.
While it’s true that not all students attend prom, some still felt ignored with their holiday celebration coinciding with the dance.
“I am probably going to be celebrating Passover with my family, reading scripture and eating sacred foods while everyone’s at prom. To be honest, I was not going to go to prom regardless because it’s not my thing, but I don’t think it’s fair to my Jewish classmates and peers,” senior Jacob Schenkein said before the date was changed to May 3.
Because other prom dances in the Richmond area were also scheduled for the same day as Passover, protesting students view this as a larger issue than just a Deep Run dance.
“Glen Allen and Hanover’s prom is held on Passover. This is larger than a Deep Run issue; this is negligence against the Jewish community and students. We created a petition for students to use their voice against the systemic issue that attacks Jewish students,” Pressley said.
