Class of 2015 stretches the limits of free speech
Senior Cairo Smith took it upon himself to design T-shirts for the graduating class of 2015 this year, but the result greatly shocked students, school officials and even onlookers from around and outside the country. The first round of shirts were sold on Wednesday, Sept. 24, which sported the phrase “We Are PEN15” which uses the school’s name and the class’s year to form what can easily be interpreted as an obscenity. The phrase “Biggest Around” follows the first sentence, adding another profane play on words, all on a green background.
“I could never take personal hold of the idea, as it firmly belongs to the community, but I did see a space for market opportunity and positioned myself to fill it.” Smith said.
Seniors Mathew Maeder and Andrew Kim have been helping Smith with distribution and promotion of the shirts. The three have gotten almost 250 orders so far, mostly from Peninsula seniors. The revenue obtained from the first order, around $100, was used for speed-ordering the next batch, so the three haven’t taken home any net profit yet.
The shirts sparked attention from social media and news agencies as well. After a picture of a box of them was posted on reddit.com, the post went viral and was discovered by thousands of people across the country, receiving a whopping total of 3720 upvotes. Smith’s creation was also featured on online newspapers such as dailydot.com, nuzzle.com, heavy.com and tsangg.com. Smith was even featured on the Heidi and Frank show, a daily radio show that broadcasts around Los Angeles.
The second batch of shirts came out on Thursday, Oct. 9 with a new design. Almost 50 buyers appeared on the first day out of 200 which had ordered. The new shirts were in black and displayed the single phrase “PEN15” in large letters, followed by “Rise to the Occasion” in smaller letters. Smith estimates that so far he and his helpers have sold about 150 shirts for $20 each, and the number is expected to keep growing
According to Smith, reactions to the shirts have been mostly positive. Many students were entertained by their controversial play on words, and even the administration had little against them. Smith met with Principal Mitzi Cress on Sept. 29 and smoothed over the situation. Cress only insisted that he does not distribute shirts on school grounds, and other than that only said that she “encourages his capitalistic endeavors”.
“I don’t feel the shirts pose a threat to anyone, and I trust the discretion of Peninsula Panthers in donning them appropriately.” Smith said.
