In her ruling, Wang said that a student wearing regalia at graduation sends a message that the school approves, so it “qualifies as school-sponsored speech, at least for the duration of the ceremony.” The district insisted that standardized attire was required to create a message of unity, a concern that the judge deemed legitimate.
Huh? “Unity” with what?
And then this:
The judge also pointed out that the district’s policy would have permitted Villasano to reproduce the design of the sash on her graduation cap, and would have allowed her to wear the sash before and after the ceremony.
So an Indian war bonnet is ok, but a Mexican flag is not?
If they all have to dress the same for graduation, they should all dress the same for the classes required to graduate. Uniforms or not. Unity or none.
Someone over there is just being a piece of ■■■■ for no reason IMO.
I agree. But if they are going to allow for “future military service” (aka haven’t done anything), why not this girl? I’m pretty sure she passed Mexican basic training. She actually is, not just “planning on.”
There’s the problem. As you noted: Government picking winners.
It should be all or nothing.
I just attended a high school graduation yesterday. Cap decorations were fair game. Some were quite creative. I’m sure administrators disallowed offensive ones, and there weren’t any offensive ones I saw in the sea of 400 graduates.
Only school-issued sashes were allowed. These were to honor students with various achievements. I get that, and appreciate it. In fact, in the program, students had a symbol (or symbols!) next to their names indicating what their sash represented. National Honors Society. Top 10% GPA. Student Council members. Etc. If they allowed other sashes, it would dilute the noteworthiness of those official ones.
And it seems like the school referenced in the OP had a similar policy. From a quote in the OP: “The judge also pointed out that the district’s policy would have permitted Villasano to reproduce the design of the sash on her graduation cap, and would have allowed her to wear the sash before and after the ceremony.”
In that spirit, therefore, I agree with the judge in this particular case.
And as for the Oklahoma case, it looks like the student bypassed the process for approval. She likely would have been approved (clearly speculation on my part, but 100 other kids got approval.)
PS: In my opinion, administrators overreacted to it in the moment.
