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[Dalek]

How a valedictorian’s beard barred him from his own high school graduation

Hours before Andrew Jones’s high school graduation, his aunt posted photos on social media, showing the scholar-athlete posing with honor cords and a medal — an academic distinction that set him apart.

His mother put their pride into words.

“Today is ur big day my baby boi,” she wrote on Faceook. “Luv u to the fullest.”

Jones, 18, who his family said was valedictorian at Amite High School in Amite City, La., had prepared to give a reflection, prayer and tell his classmates when to turn their tassels.

He had put on his purple cap and gown.

He was ready to march across the stage.

But his family and friends said when he arrived at the graduation center on Wednesday night, he was stopped at the gate. His beard, school administrators told him, violated the school district’s dress code.

“They snatched his robe off him, and they took his awards,” Sabrina Davis, his aunt, told The Washington Post in a phone interview. “He had to sit in the stands and watch his friends and cousins graduate.”

A teacher brought him his diploma, and another student performed his duties.

The school district has not yet spoken about Jones’s academic standing.

Kolwe told ABC News that Jones — and several other male students — had been warned many times before graduation to remove all facial hair. Even moments before the actual ceremony, Kolwe told CBS affiliate WWL, the students were given the opportunity to go to the restroom to shave.

Kolwe told ABC News the others “took care of what they had to do and marched,” but Jones did not.

“Our school board has a policy that does not allow any facial hair on male students,” he told ABC News, adding: “I personally asked him to please go and shave so that he can walk with the other kids. He chose not to.”

“I even asked the parents standing here to have him follow the policy.”

The Tangipahoa Parish School System policy states that “hairstyles and mustaches shall be clean, neatly groomed and shall not distract from the learning environment” and that “beards will not be allowed.”

Jones said he declined to shave a goatee because the situation was unfair.

“I refused to shave because I felt as if that was ridiculous, being that I went the whole school year with my facial hair,” he told The Post in a text message. “Plus, students from other schools in the district who graduated earlier that week marched with their facial hair, so why couldn’t I?”

Jones said he refused several times — then they asked for his gown.

“My parents came down and had a conversation with the school board members, discussing why they weren’t letting me march,” he said, “but it seemed as the superintendent wasn’t trying to hear anything they had to say.”

He added: “I just watched my graduation from the stands.”

 

[nhlducks35]

“Indeed, by your treatment of Andrew Jones you demonstrate the district’s disinterest and unwillingness to extend an effort to ‘meet the needs of all students’ to young men or women wishing to lead a Mustached American lifestyle, which we believe to be a stark violation of civil liberties and of course contradict the scientifically-based principles of rugged good looks,” wrote Adam Paul Causgrove, chief executive officer of American Mustache Institute, a facial hair advocacy organization.

Sounds like something from the Onion

 

[adampa1006]

Really stupid. Dumb school.

 

[Jarmel]

American Mustache Institute?

 

[linkboy]

Give me a freaking break.

 

[Angelus Errare]

They were that petty that a black man was valedictorian. Smh.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

hairstyles and mustaches shall be clean, neatly groomed and shall not distract from the learning environment

I remember that one time my mustache stopped me from learning calculus

 

[OriginofHysteria]

So having a moustache while black?

 

[JesseZao]

LA -> L -> *LAW

 

[Cheat Code]

Bullshit that it was a beard problem.

 

[jaekeem]

So having a moustache while black?

LOL

 

[CraigerGamer]

This can't be real.

 

[starchild excalibur]

 

[Messofanego]

I'm surprised this hasn't been protested before. WTF Tangipahoa school.

 

[DOWN]

That's horrible. Having to watch from the stands? Seriously?

 

[Slayven]

They were that petty that a black man was valedictorian. Smh.

Pretty much

 

[Lamel]

This sounds ridiculous. Surely there is something more to this story? Were there no other kids with facial hair?

 

[Permanently A]

So having a moustache while black?

Basically this

 

[Count Dookkake]

WWJD

 

[B-Dubs]

So having a mustache while black?

And there it is. If it was about the mustache they would have spoken to him about it at some point during the year.

This sounds ridiculous. Surely there is something more to this story? Were there no other kids with facial hair?

According to the article there were. Also that he had the facial hair all year. If it was this big an issue why did no one bring it up until now?

 

[tirminyl]

You can't suddenly enforce something on graduation day and be inconsistent about it.

I'm shocked they didn't make him cut his locks.

 

[TraBuch]

This sounds ridiculous. Surely there is something more to this story? Were there no other kids with facial hair?

There were thirteen others but they all shaved.

According to the article there were. Also that he had the facial hair all year. If it was this big an issue why did no one bring it up until now?

Wouldn't surprise me if they don't really care about it during the school year, but when there's some big public event where administrators are really paying attention, they enforce it. I dunno. Seems stupid, but a rule's a rule.

 

[OriginofHysteria]

Is the mentioned school a private institution? I could see the strict rule if it were...but if it's a public school, that's just complete horseshit.

 

[Baraka in the White House]

Sadly school districts get pretty damned pissy about their dress codes, particularly facial hair on young men from my experience.

Guys were constantly being sent to the office to shave at my high school.

Personally, I find it absolutely ridiculous. The students are young adults. As long as the hair is hygienic there's no point in pretending like they're pre-pubescent kids.

 

[RockTurtle]

overzealous staff who overlook it through the year but want to be hardasses when eyes are on them are not rare.

but events are usually the one time a lot of administration go hard on their rules.

like girls being sent home because their skirts were 1 inch too high above the knee even though they paid. detention for wearing hoodies up through the halls etc.

 

[Two Words]

Why should it matter during graduation? You're literally sending off these kids.

 

[SpecX]

Saw this on the news last night. Serious bs from the school to get in the way over this. The man is well groomed and put in the hard work to reach this level only to have a stupid policy like this steal the moment.

 

[Plasmid]

Wow. What horse Shit. Kid should sue for discrimination.

 

[echoshifting]

If the American Mustache Institute is even a real thing I wish they had stayed out of it because they make it all read like satire. Especially because apparently mustaches are totally okay by the school, just not beards.

As for the real meat of the story, he was given many warnings and opportunities to line up with the dress code right up to the last moment and he refused. On the other hand I understand his complaints - that the school didn't make him shave all year and students at other schools in the district walked with facial hair without issue. BUT it's not like they were targeting him specifically, it sounds like they made everybody shave and most everyone else complied. He decided to take a stand and I respect that, but he had to know there would be consequences. They straight up told him there would be.

The policy is still shitty and outdated, though.

 

[jett]

American Mustache Institute?

When I read that I honestly checked the link to see if this was an Onion article.

 

[DedValve]

So having a moustache while black?

Bruh thats clearly a chinstrap + mustache combo.

But yes lets add that to the list. We should make a google sheet or some shit. I think someone here was keeping a linked list.

 

[Skellig Gra]

Same thing would have happened to me at my high school. Some schools take this shit really seriously for who knows what reason.

 

[TraBuch]

Wow. What horse Shit. Kid should sue for discrimination.

Or he could've shaved like everybody else.

 

[Ivan 3414]

So having a moustache while black?

No one was killed or arrested.

 

[RockTurtle]

This is a really confusing story. If the American Mustache Institute is even a real thing I wish they had stayed out of it because they make it all read like satire. Especially because apparently mustaches are totally okay by the school, just not beards.

As for the real meat of the story, he was given many warnings and opportunities to line up with the dress code right up to the last moment and he refused. On the other hand I understand his complaints - that the school didn't make him shave all year and students at other schools in the district walked with facial hair without issue. BUT it's not like they were targeting him specifically, it sounds like they made everybody shave and most everyone else complied. He decided to take a stand and I respect that, but he had to know there would be consequences. They straight up told him there would be.

The policy is still shitty and outdated, though.

yup.

I understand the rule is a tad backwards and stuff, but sometimes you have to learn rules are rules and when given multiple warnings, you can't be surprised about outcomes.

this doesn't appear to be an attack on identity, it seems to be an universal dress code issue.

I am a bit taken back that this was enforced on the val. and on graduation day, but....

also do we have a list of valedactorians from this school? im seeing a lot of people mention racial aspects behind this, but I don't know where from without seeing if there's a history behind it. i.e is he the first black Val. or whats the usual trend. if there was a racial aspect to it, I would have assumed the long dreads might have been a more pressing matter

 

[Amory]

Apparently the school had been saying for weeks that no facial hair would be allowed for graduation.

It's a stupid rule, but it was known well ahead of time. He chose not to shave, and didn't get to march. It is what it is. That's the nature of standing up to something when you think it's wrong.

 

[Violence Jack]

I really don't get these types of rules. No facial hair? Like anyone watching the graduation is really going to give a fuck about someone having a beard or goatee when the school is never going to see them again? I could understand graduating from a military academy or something, but this just seems nitpicky and invasive. If they wanted him to shave it, then maybe they should've enforced it the entire year instead of choosing what was supposed to be one of the greatest days of this young man's life.

 

[Apathy]

This really has to be one of the dumbest things I've read in a while.

Holy shit, just let the young man get his rightfully earned recognition. He earned the right to be valedictorian and to walk up there and make everyone proud of his achievements, and these people took this away from him because of some facial hair.

 

[TheOohChild]

It's a dumb policy, and it was dumb they were enforcing it so harshly, but I also don't really get why you choose to die on that hill.

 

[spekkeh]

It's a dumb policy but apparently he was warned well before and a number of times. Personally I'd choose another hill to die on. Especially considering it's not that farfetched they'd want people to look to the nines on such a formal occasion.

 

[Trojita]

Considering this isn't apparently a private school or military school.

This policy can

Ge-Ge-Ge-Ge-Get Fucked.

 

[TraBuch]

Shave then give a valedictorian speech about how stupid the rule is.

 

[akira28]

Why should it matter during graduation? You're literally sending off these kids.

control mentality up until the end. pervasive in our schools and a disease really.

some people can't relate to other people unless there is an authority/leverage situation.

I've seen people threaten to not graduate kids right up until the last weeks of school just for discipline and control. respect my authority or feel my power over your life. very powerful lesson to learn.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

So having a moustache while black?

Ummm..yeah..who knew?

All the butts tho!

 

[demon]

What the fuck? I was expecting a real rat's nest something something huge and awful. There's nothing wrong with that dude's face hair. That fucking school.

 

[Slayven]

It's a dumb policy but apparently he was warned well before and a number of times. Personally I'd choose another hill to die on. Especially considering it's not that farfetched they'd want people to look to the nines on such a formal occasion.

Looks pretty GQ to me

 

[akira28]

I wonder if they had anything to say about his dreads in the past. If he won that battle, they made sure he lost this war.

 

[bennywhatever]

Beards clearly get in the way of learning. That's why the valedictorian had one.

 

[akira28]

It's a dumb policy but apparently he was warned well before and a number of times. Personally I'd choose another hill to die on. Especially considering it's not that farfetched they'd want people to look to the nines on such a formal occasion.

this bullshit can fuck right off. they want him to look his "best" or "neat" or whatever for his graduation. Comes by in a suit, in his ceremonial regalia, "your face ain't shaved, boy. you ain't graduating today."

honestly spekkeh?

it shouldn't even be a hill to die on, but some people keep raising these hills so they can kill people on them for some reason.

 

[Trojita]

meet the needs of all students’ to young men or women wishing to lead a Mustached American lifestyle

Hmmmm