In the opening scene of Crimson Tide, we are told "the three most powerful men in the world" are the president of the United States, the president of the Russian republic, "and… the captain of a U.S. nuclear missile submarine." But who’s the fourth most powerful person in the world?
The yearbook editor.
I have always maintained the people in charge of the high school and college yearbooks wield an inordinate amount of power. And now I’ve been proven correct.
The Washington Post reports on an incident earlier this month at Wall High School in New Jersey:
Wyatt, Montana [Dobrovich-Fago] and another student, Grant Berardo, had reported earlier this month that their pro-Trump messages were edited out of photos and a quotation—igniting outrage from parents and prompting an investigation. A yearbook adviser has been suspended while the school district tries to find out how and why Trump’s name was removed from the annuals.
On picture day in October, Wyatt, a junior, had worn a vest with a Trump campaign logo, but it appeared to be cropped out in the 2017 yearbook, which was released June 7. His sister, Montana, who was freshman class president, was missing a Trump quote that was meant to appear beneath her photo. "I like thinking big. If you are going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big," it read, according to CNN.
But perhaps the most blatant edit was to 17-year-old Grant’s "TRUMP Make America Great Again!" T-shirt, which was apparently altered in his photo to remove the Republican presidential nominee’s campaign slogan. In the yearbook, the high school junior appeared to be wearing a plain and simple, dark-colored T-shirt.
As noted, a yearbook adviser has been blamed—or at least she was suspended all of last week—but no student has been implicated. The superintendent for Wall Township public schools, Cheryl Dyer, is still not sure how this error occurred but emphasized that "the administration applauds students for becoming involved in politics, making their voices known, and taking an active part in our democracy."
In the case of Wyatt Dobrovich-Fago’s vest with the campaign logo, Dyer argues it was in all likelihood a photocropping done to fit the page. More suspicious is the missing quotation and, of course, the blackened-out t-shirt.
President Trump posted words of encouragement on Facebook: "Thank you Wyatt and Montana—two young Americans who aren’t afraid to stand up for what they believe in. Our movement to #MAGA is working because of great people like you!" (They also received swag from the Trump campaign.)
But doesn’t President Trump mean #MYGA? As in Make Yearbooks Great Again? Because what this incident exposes isn’t just violations of the First Amendment. Rather, we once again see the abuse of power by the yearbook staff.
It’s a smug little coterie, that yearbook staff. They aren’t necessarily the coolest kids in school—they probably have more in common with the A/V club than the football team. But their influence is considerable.
You might think you’re an active part of your class, but if you’re not friends with that yearbook staff, you can end up like Trotsky, erased from history. As if you never went to the school. Or were a lonely transfer. Or that exchange student no one talked to.
I was fortunate to be friends with some of the yearbook staff in my high school. As a result, when "Serendipity" was published in June, I flipped through pages and saw myself and my friends—fond memories to last a lifetime. And don’t you love those yearbook names like "Serendipity"? Remember the one for Springfield Elementary in The Simpsons?
In college, my friends were not well acquainted with the yearbook editors. And sure enough, when Georgetown’s "Ye Domesday Booke" came out, it was like I wasn’t there. But you saw some of the same kids reappearing in page after page—at parties, ceremonies, lectures, dorm rooms. Today their kids get to see how wild and crazy and popular their parents were—let’s all go to the Tombs!
And now these yearbook staffers are altering photos. Because they can.
The president and Congress need to act now. Rein in the power of the yearbook editor. The corruption and cronyism must end. It’s time to Make Yearbooks Great Again.