America: the land of the free, took on a whole new meaning last week as Fort Collins High School students fought for the right to have a day celebrating America. As the Fort Collins student council was preparing days for their Winter spirit week, their proposal of ‘Merica Monday rejected was by school administrators. Their reasoning, according to Fox News, was that they did not want any students who were either foreign exchange or that were not American citizens to be offended by having to dress up in American colors. The students heard what their administration said and then amended their day to be a My Country Monday so that students could dress up in the colors or dress of their home country. That proposal too got rejected by the school’s administration. This time though, outraged students and parents decided to report the issue to Denver’s Fox News station, which then got picked up by the national Fox News channel.

Although Principal Mark Eversole later repealed the decision to not allow My Country Monday, national attention had already been drawn to the issue. On Feb. 10, the day that the spirit day was scheduled to take place, students at Fort Collins gathered in order to celebrate the instated “America Day” spirit day. The controversy which had increasingly gained speed throughout last week seemed to die as students and alumni celebrated their freedom of expression. Ironically, last year during Fossil Ridge High School’s prom spirit week, there was a spirit day called “America Day.” Lorena Martinez, senior class president and a member of FRHS’s student council, said, “I’m glad our administration approved it. I don’t think it’s really disrespectful, but I would like to know what was happening at [Fort] Collins that made them not approve it.”

The spirit week created by the Fort Collins student council was intended to help raise money and awareness for Respite Care, a local center for developmentally disabled students, according to The Coloradoan. After the week-long controversy over the inappropriate use of the slang word ‘Merica, students were still given the opportunity to celebrate their country and show the true intent of patriotism attempting to be exemplified by the school. Martinez has an interesting perspective to give on the connotation of the word ‘Merica. This year Martinez spent five weeks in South America and she said, “’Merica and even America hold a negative connotation in places outside of the United States. If I told someone I was from America they would call me a Yankee.” Martinez’s perspective is mirrored in community members who believe that the day’s original name was offensive and unpatriotic, according to The Coloradoan.