In any high school graduation, students  strive for distinction. There is of course the highest distinction, valedictorian. Then, there is “second place”, the salutatorian. But, not everyone can be the top two. In a class of 500 or more, students distinguish themselves on that stage with cords. There are cords for all types of Honor Societies: from academic to science to math to Spanish. Then there are other clubs that give cords as well. Black Student Union, Plastic Free Mermaids, or SGA (Student Government Association). The list is endless. Usually, club members and sponsors decide the criteria for earning a cord. But, at South Broward, all of that is about to change.

This year, the SBHS administration implemented a new requirement for clubs and honor societies to hand out regalia. It’s all detailed in a “Request for Graduation Regalia Approval” form, which states that each organization is required to participate in a minimum of three school and three community service projects. A school service project can be participation in a club toy drive, while a community service project can mean a beach clean up. However, all clubs must participate in the Harvest Drive as one of their community service projects. In previous years, all clubs were able to self regulate, with the exception of honor societies, which have to meet national standards for cord distribution. The shift has left some students feeling uneasy. SBHS senior Daniel Reynolds thinks that these regulations are unfair for all clubs.

“Fulfilling these requirements is very frustrating, especially for smaller-scale clubs,” he said. “The Harvest Drive requires a minimum of 75 items assigned for each club, but this goal is challenging to reach, particularly for smaller clubs with fewer members.”

As Co-President of  the Math and Social Studies Honor Societies, Reynolds understands that the rigorous requirements of these clubs are set by national standards. But for smaller clubs like Social Studies Honor Society with only around 15 members, in comparison to SGA that has over 100 members as well as a class, meeting the requirements may be too much. 

 “How are these smaller clubs supposed to achieve such hefty goals with the short notice of these new requirements?,” said Reynolds.

That’s the burning question on all club members’ minds. The aim of these new requirements is to make sure all clubs and honor societies have a set standard in order to work for their cords. SBHS Assistant Principal Kalia Bergeron spearheaded the implementation of the new regalia regulations.

“We can’t just give a cord to every single person that goes to every single club, right?,” said Bergeron. “It devalues the cord.”

Although parts of the student body oppose the rule, others are in agreement with Bergeron. Student Government President Jea’Cier Leon believes regalia should be earned with hard work, regular participation, and dedication in clubs and honor societies.

“I do agree that everyone should have cords based on their achievements,” said  Leon. “But, I also think there should be [minimum] requirements on the amount of service hours needed.”

But Co-President of Social Studies Honor Society Anya Zhuk feels it’s unfair to require clubs to do so many activities to get one cord. She’s especially concerned about the economic impact on the SBHS students.

“Look at South Broward’s demographics. We have a lot of lower income people who may not be able to afford to donate,” said Zhuk. “I don’t think we should make donating to drives necessary. You can’t force low income families to donate to low income families.”. 

But others, like SBHS art teacher Jennifer Shapiro, sponsor for the National Art Honor Society, are strongly in favor of the new policies because they think in the past it was too easy to get a cord. Shapiro also believes that these new rules could stop the practice of seniors joining a bunch of clubs in their last year in order to collect cords to wear on stage.

“I know in NAHS students must be in the club for two or more consecutive years and it must be their junior and senior year,” she said. “So I do think it’s important because kids cord shop for their senior year.”

Ultimately, it falls on the shoulders of each individual club to secure their regalia by the end of the year. It is expected that if an organization is struggling to meet their goals, they can reach out to other clubs or administration for assistance in meeting their goals. Meaning larger clubs can help smaller ones meet their requirements. 

“We’ve already helped smaller clubs like Criminal Justice to help meet their Harvest Drive requirement because we’ve exceeded ours,” said Shapiro.

Although the new requirements may have been necessary to stop the liberal distribution of cords for little to no effort, some students fear  a trend of ever increasing requirements in order to earn a single cord. For example, with the Harvest Drive this year SBHS aimed to help 75 families. They ended up helping 125, leaving some to believe that the requirements for donations could be increased for next year. 

“Forcing lower-income students in clubs to contribute to the [Harvest] drive would be unreasonable,” said Reynolds. “They need the items but can’t afford to buy them themselves.”