Each week, U-High holds at least one obligatory assembly for the high school students, and these assemblies, more often than not, are both run and planned by the administration or faculty. 

In order to create a higher percentage of genuinely enjoyable or interesting assemblies, the student body should be not only allowed but heavily encouraged to plan and run far more of them than they currently are.

If U-High students are going to be required to attend these assemblies, it seems only fair that they have some autonomy over the substance and content of each one.

The Jan. 12 Martin Luther King Jr. Day assembly made for an interesting and enlightening example of the student body taking charge of an assembly and making a vulnerable and powerful impression on hundreds of students at once. Rather than reading from a script given to them by the administration, students from Black Students’ Association were able to share their own experiences and concerns regarding diversity and treatment of students of color at U-High. 

Assemblies are an opportunity to allow students to share their opinions and concerns with the entire student body at once, yet this opportunity is continuously disabled from reaching its full potential by how few of the events they’re allowed to design. 

The students at U-High should assume at least partial control over the community, and the administration should recognize the value in students having at least shared decision making over the time they spend together.