This is the third year that students at Wauwatosa West have been without Color Wars, the iconic battle between grades involving colored tape assigned to each class. Due to safety concerns and undisclosed incidents, Color Wars was discontinued in 2018 and to be never played again. As Homecoming 2021 nears, many students want Color Wars to return to the halls of Tosa West.

Color Wars was best known for its ability to unite the whole school. It allowed students to get involved, have fun, and build up their school spirit for the homecoming football game later in the day. Out of the students left in the building at Tosa West, only the current senior class has had the pleasure of experiencing Color Wars for themselves. 

“It brings everybody together and it was a lot of fun. It was really rude when they took it away” said senior Johanna Zalewski. 

Junior Matthew Byrne added, “It makes me sad not to be a part of something that was such a fun full school activity”. 

Overall, students had overwhelmingly positive things to say about Color Wars, even the students that just know the event as something of the past. If Color Wars made a comeback, it would be a surefire way to amp up school spirit, especially during such times where bonding and excitement is often hard to come by. 

Even though it was an activity used to promote school spirit and participation, Color Wars was ultimately cancelled due to the incitement of violence and harmful incidents that began to take place. With that being said, students expressed that they would be much more willing to follow rules if it meant the return of Color Wars. 

“Instead of taking it away, just have certain rules about taping”, suggested junior Maddie Trotter. 

“Not very many people even did anything like taping to desks and stuff, the stuff you hear about. You just had to keep tape below the forearms so people could still write and do their schoolwork”, explained Zalewski. 

Sounds pretty fair, right? Flat out taking away the event made many students disappointed and they think that there is potential for a compromise to be made. The institution of rules and regulations can still allow for fun to be had, and will help Color Wars make a safer comeback that will be better for the entirety of the school population. 

Lastly, Color Wars is a part of a tradition at West. Whenever you mention the words “color wars”, students get this longing look in their eyes as they reminisce about the fun they were once able to have. 

“It’s a great way to bully the freshman, but in a “welcome to high school” sort of way. And I would really like the ability to tape my friends” expressed junior, Edie Eckblad. She too agreed that Color Wars is simply apart of your induction into high school and your first look at the true high school experience! 

Year after year, students have wished and hoped for a Color Wars comeback, especially seeing how much fun other classes of students had. 

“We heard so much about it (Color Wars) coming into high school and never got to experience it,” said junior Hannah Veenendaal. 

As seen in the students’ words, preserving Color Wars would mean reviving Wauwatosa West history, tradition, and heritage.

So finally, teachers, administrators, students, faculty, staff, parents, and maybe even school board members, please consider allowing the return of Color Wars. As students we promise to be safe, respectful and considerate of each other, especially if it means preserving such a historic tradition. 

In the past couple of years, we have been through so much hurt and pain. We have suffered a pandemic, protests, riots, online schooling, quarantines, masks and more. Why not just give us a little more fun during our homecoming week. I think we deserve it. So what do you say students, should Color Wars make a comeback?! Leave your thoughts in the website comments or on one of our socials!