Sophomore James, who wishes to stay anonymous, said that unidentified people in a black pickup threw eggs at him while he was going home from school on Freshman Friday. 

– Hae-Lin Cho

Despite the hopes for a mischief-free Freshman Friday, students were suspended over an undisclosed incident, according to Principal Phil Winston.

“There was one incident, and students were suspended and given community service,” Winston wrote in an email to the Paly Voice. 

Winston declined to comment on the number of students involved or the details of the incident. 

The administration had taken steps to prevent any misconduct on Freshman Friday, asking Link Crew members to walk with freshmen and the Palo Alto Police Department to keep an eye out on grounds around the school. Students were also asked to report any incidents to Link Crew.  

However, Link Crew adviser Michael Najar said Link Crew has not received any reports of misbehavior.

According to a Paly sophomore, James, who wishes to stay anonymous, there may have been more than one incident that happened on Freshman Friday. A group of people in a “black pickup” truck threw an egg at James – although he is not a freshman – and his friends, who were biking near some freshmen past Alma while going home after school. James did not report the incident. 

“At first, I didn’t realize I had been hit,” James said. “It was only after I stopped and checked my backpack did I realize that it had egg yolk on it.”

He added that others may have been hit by eggs as well.

“Well, I also hear that a junior had also been hit on his way back home,” James said. “According to him, it was also a group of people in a black pickup that egged him.”

James mentioned, however, that he had not anticipated anything to go wrong on “Freshman Friday.”

“In my freshman year, nothing really happened so I thought this year would be the same,” he said, explaining that he thought the day was really to “poke fun at the freshman” – not anything else.

Winston expressed disappointment that something had gone wrong on “Freshman Friday,” but remained hopeful that such an incident would not happen again.

“I am disappointed that anything happened, and I am looking forward to using different language to describe the first Friday of the school year,” he wrote. “It is juvenile and inappropriate, regardless of what people might consider tradition, behavior, period.”

“We will continue our environment of support and collaboration and be clear with our expectations around how we treat each other,” Winston added.