The only surprising thing here is that students the students actually attended the "mandatory" assembly. With the exception of the very first assembly my freshman year I skipped every single one despite them being "mandatory". I went as far as sneaking off when my biology teacher tried to walk us to one of those cock sucker conventions. I even got my mom to pick me up when I assured her that there was no way I would get caught ditching. I learned a good life lesson: Things are only mandatory if there are real consequences from disregarding the mandate.