Imho, a white shirt is the uniform that the Yeshivos happened to adopt. A uniform is important for unity and conformity, not wearing the uniform is symbolic that you don’t hold of the institution that you supposedly belong to, but this is only applicable where this is the “accepted” uniform. In most yeshivos, white is the uniform even though it’s not inherently significant, and wearing colored shirts would tell us a lot about that talmid and his values. In places where it’s not the uniform (like YU), then wearing white is much less meaningful, and not wearing white is not a statement at all.
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