*WEB CONTINUATION: This article originally appeared in Volume 105 Issue 3 of our news magazine, Amplifier.

With so many new traditions arising and adapting in the last few years– such as spirit points, Unity Day, and Club’s Got Talent– the wlhsNOW staff has chosen to zoom in on one of the most iconic yet delicate traditions we have: May Day, one that seems to be stuck in the past. We want to do our part to ensure that the celebration evolves into an event that is not only relevant for our entire community today, but also keeps the character and novelty alive.

The tradition of May Day is 105 years old as of this year. Annie Kaiser, organizer of May Day, has been helping to run the event since 2004.

“May Day is a tradition that’s been in place as long as West Linn High School has existed. There are pictures of the high school’s first May Court in 1920,” Kaiser said. “Every small town and community had events and festivities like May Day that brought everyone together in celebration. We are one of the fortunate schools that has been able to maintain the tradition.”

Students have recognized that some of the aspects of May Day have become outdated since the 1920s. For example, the opening Maypole dance. 

In previous years, underclassmen girls were recruited to perform the Maypole dance. While today the ritual mostly celebrates the progression of spring, its origins have ties to celebrating fertility, specifically marriage and childbirth.

While students have shown less interest in the tradition, seen by the pattern of fewer volunteering each year, those who have known May Day for longer may be more attached to the ritual.

“Alumni and community members truly look forward to the Maypole dance. At this year’s matinee, two women who attend every year were very disappointed that we were only including the Maypole dance in the evening performance,” Kaiser said.

Another aspect of May Day is the May Court of seniors, chosen by a panel of judges and student body votes. The group of seniors were chosen and announced on Feb. 28. They’re chosen in consideration of their academics, character, and contributions to the community. The group is recognized at the May Day celebration and participates in a traditional ballroom dance and a fast dance.

Students have recognized another change to update May Day is the application process of the May Court. Traditionally, there are nine female candidates and nine male candidates chosen to be the princes and princesses of the court, who are partnered up with the opposite sex. In recent years, students have seen a recurring pattern of a larger ratio of female applicants than male applicants. 

This year, the pattern returned, with more female-identifying students applying for the May Court and less male-identifying students applying. This made the spots for princesses more competitive, while almost everyone who applied to be a prince got a spot.

Students believe that many female candidates who did not get a spot could be fully capable of getting one if the applicants weren’t restricted to a specific number of female or male candidates. We hope that in the future, May Court applications will not be restricted to the number of female or male seniors picked, but to pick 16 of the most qualified students regardless of their gender.

As the gender gap  has caught most of the students’ attention about May Court, a new concern was raised after the Queen and King were chosen for this year’s May Court. During the period when the student body voted for the King and Queen, a student hacked voter ids on the voting website and took their ballot, voting for them. Rachel Han, senior, was one of the students affected.

“I know it was hacked to give other people a chance to win that are less popular or less known within the community, but I feel like the results shouldn’t have been hindered,” Han said. “I understand what the intention was, but I think ultimately coming out about it just made a lot of people upset.” 

After the student admitted to rigging the votes, it was brought to the administration’s attention, but the hacked results were not changed, and the Queen and King chosen originally stayed the same.

Jillian Walters, senior, is one of the chosen May Court members this year.

“I just kind of felt anyone would have been an amazing king [or] queen. Everyone worked so hard and did so amazing, so I would have been happy for anyone,” Walters said. “I mean, I just thought it was such a fun process, and I don’t want to let that put a damper on it.”

The change to the voting results sheds light on how popularity plays a role in the May Court, as a portion of how the court is chosen is through the student body vote. Although we recognize that diversity in who is chosen for the court and for Queen and King is important, May Day is made to bring the community together and connect people with this long-run tradition.

“[Being a part of May Court is] not just about the students at the school. It’s about the grandparents, the other people in the community that come and watch the show, they see you, and it just means to me that you are a role model of the school, and you have to act like it and hold up the pillars of character of West Linn High School,” Walters said.

Although the restriction on gender and popularity remains as a restriction for some students, we’ve recognized that those involved in planning May Day accommodate people of all different backgrounds and don’t try to restrict anyone from applying or considering joining May Court.  

Students previously like Mariam Hassan, 2022 May Day Queen, were able to receive those accommodations. Due to her faith-related needs, she couldn’t walk alongside a partner, had to wear her hijab, and had a dress that could cover her arms and chest.

“I assured [Mariam] that if she chose to apply and was selected for Court, we would make any adjustments necessary; she just had to make the decision to be the first, and I would support her completely,” Kaiser said. “She applied, was selected, we accommodated all of her and her family’s requirements, and she was chosen as Queen that year. I was so grateful that she came to me and that we could make change happen together.”

Although we see that there are still obstacles in the system, we’re grateful the organizers have made May Court open to anyone and don’t restrict anyone who wants to participate.

“At West Linn, we spend most of the year focused on academics and athletics, with theatre and music performances happening less frequently and in a separate building. May Day is the one day during our school year that we give our entire student body and staff an opportunity to come together in the middle of our school on a spring day and bask in beauty,” Kaiser said.

The celebration of May Day is not just for the tradition itself, but to bring people together and embrace the different people that make up our community. Our school continues to strive to encourage community-rooted events, through school assemblies, implementing new games and activities to make it more engaging and entertaining for students. Even this school year, they’ve started establishing Unity Day, an extended lunch period to share food stalls and activities run by student clubs.  We appreciate the work and changes put in to make these events engaging for everyone and connect the student body, but we hope that the same effort can be put into May Day to help the celebration evolve into an event that is not only relevant for our entire community today, but also keep the core traditions alive.