Granite City student can't wear kilt to prom

[Trades]

For Warfish:

[QUOTE][B][URL="http://reason.com/brickbat/2012/04/03/i-see-you-won-first-prize"]I See You Won First Prize[/URL] [/B]

Posted on April 3, 2012, 6:00AM | [I][URL="http://reason.com/people/charles-oliver"]Charles Oliver[/URL][/I]
[I][URL="http://reason.com/people/charles-oliver"]
[/URL][/I]
The Granite City, Missouri, School Board has barred William Carruba from attending his senior prom [URL="http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/granite-city-student-can-t-wear-kilt-to-prom/article_8fd1bab1-5fc2-5716-be62-15838936758e.html"] wearing a kilt[/URL]. Carruba says he bought a kilt made out of the family's tartan to honor his mother's Scottish heritage. But when he asked school officials about wearing it to the prom, Carruba says his principal said he should dress like a man. Superintendent Harry Briggs denied that anyone questioned the manliness of kilt wearers.
[/QUOTE]

[url]http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/granite-city-student-can-t-wear-kilt-to-prom/article_8fd1bab1-5fc2-5716-be62-15838936758e.html[/url]

[QUOTE][B]GRANITE CITY[/B] • A Granite City High School senior doing research on his family's Scottish heritage purchased a kilt made out of the family's tartan and decided the garment's coming out party would be at the senior prom.


School officials, however, said no.


William Carruba was denied again Tuesday by the Granite City School Board, where he had turned in hopes of having the school's denial reversed. Officials there said kilts are "nontraditional" and that they do not fit into the district's dress code.


"I understand full-heartedly," Carruba, 19, said of the board's decision after the meeting. "I'll just ... wear pants."


Superintendent Harry A. Briggs told the 65 people in attendance that the denial was not simply about the kilt.


"We must adhere to our (dress) policy," Briggs said. "To do otherwise would be reckless on our part."


While he said he respects the tradition of the kilt, Briggs, who said he is of Scottish-Irish heritage, said normal attire must be worn to school functions.


"It's not what we call normal wear," he said of the kilt, adding that "attending the prom is a privilege, not a right."


Carruba said his idea for the kilt began in the fall. Carruba, whose mother is of Scottish-Irish heritage, began looking into getting a kilt made out of the Gordon tartan, a sort of plaid pattern of blue and green, with yellow lines throughout. The garment arrived several weeks ago.


Carruba's prom date, Emily Nelson, said she was excited that he had decided to wear the kilt. Her love of Scottish culture is a bit different. It derives from a crush on Scottish actor Gerard Butler.


"I was excited because I knew he had wanted to do it for a while," said Emily, 16, a sophomore.


Then Carruba asked permission from school officials to wear the kilt to the prom, which didn't go as planned.


The denial has caused an outcry online, with people taking to blogs and social media to decry the decision. The dust-up has been fueled by allegations, affirmed by Emily, that Principal Jim Greenwald had said men should dress like men at the prom.


"There's nothing unmanly about a kilt," Carruba said.



Greenwald, who was at the meeting, did not comment.


Briggs said any allegations that Greenwald questioned the masculinity of the garment are untrue.


Carruba attended Tuesday's meeting in his new kilt, completing the look with a white tuxedo shirt, black vest, green socks and a sporran, the pouch many kilt-wearing men sport around their waists. He apologized for the attention the issue has brought the school, then said he wanted to wear the kilt to honor his family.


"One of my great-grandfathers came to this country in the 1700s for freedom," he said. "Saying I can't wear my kilt ... is a pronouncement that I cannot honor my family."


He said another student wore a kilt to the school's prom in 2004, and that another student recently wore one to the school's homecoming dance. Briggs said if that happened, the garments had not been approved by school officials.


Some in attendance Tuesday night had come to support Carruba's cause, including Scott Rae of Hazelwood. Rae said he was bothered by a message he read on the social networking site Facebook about the denial.


"To say real men don't wear kilts offends me," said Rae, who also donned a kilt for the meeting.


It's not the first time wearing a kilt to a school function has been an issue. In 2005, a senior at Jackson High School in Jackson, Mo., was told to change out of a kilt at a school dance, resulting in outrage from across the world. The School Board there later issued a written apology to then-senior Nathan Warmack and gave permission to wear kilts at future dances.[/QUOTE]

[Warfish]

Pretty laughable tbh. Especially the "dress like a man" line.

I don't know many men who'd be brave enough to wear a kilt in public, frankly.

As histroic-ethnic clothing that is, I should also mention, formal wear in the native country, there is no reason a kilt should be barred from such an event.

I'd love to know if other ethnic wear (fill in your item of choice) is also barred or not. In all cases, they should not be (yes, that includes traditional Islamic womans clothing, if the woman willingly wishes to wear it).

TLDR: Dress codes, generally, are fail.

[AlwaysGreenAlwaysWhite]

[QUOTE=Warfish;4427309]Pretty laughable tbh. Especially the "dress like a man" line.

I don't know many men who'd be brave enough to wear a kilt in public, frankly.

As histroic-ethnic clothing that is, I should also mention, formal wear in the native country, there is no reason a kilt should be barred from such an event.

I'd love to know if other ethnic wear (fill in your item of choice) is also barred or not. In all cases, they should not be (yes, that includes traditional Islamic womans clothing, if the woman willingly wishes to wear it).

TLDR: Dress codes, generally, are fail.[/QUOTE]

Seems a silly thing to ban... I don't think the school really is against it, just a mistake to tell the student no. The school board would probably accept the attire...

EDIT: I didn't read the first line... Whoops. What a dumb decision.

[FF2®]

:zzz:

Just part of the anti-scot stuff I face every single day.

[Warfish]

[QUOTE=FF2®;4427315]:zzz:

Just part of the anti-scot stuff I face every single day.[/QUOTE]

You're no Scott.

[doggin94it]

[QUOTE=Warfish;4427322]You're no Scott.[/QUOTE]

Or, at least, No True Scotsman

[Jungle Shift Jet]

that's what happens when we take our right to wear kilts for granite.

i'd break out the pants instead

[IMG]http://tartanblog.scotlandshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/bay_city_rollers_146.jpg[/IMG]

[Piper]

[QUOTE=Warfish;4427309]Pretty laughable tbh. Especially the "dress like a man" line.

I don't know many men who'd be brave enough to wear a kilt in public, frankly.

As histroic-ethnic clothing that is, I should also mention, formal wear in the native country, there is no reason a kilt should be barred from such an event.

I'd love to know if other ethnic wear (fill in your item of choice) is also barred or not. In all cases, they should not be (yes, that includes traditional Islamic womans clothing, if the woman willingly wishes to wear it).

TLDR: Dress codes, generally, are fail.[/QUOTE]

Imagine if they had told a member of any number of other ethnic groups they couldn't wear historic-ethnic clothing to the prom?

I'd be happy to educate the bureaucrat on the manliness of kilt wearers.

[southparkcpa]

Is this kid related to Fish?

[FF2®]

[QUOTE=Warfish;4427322]You're no Scott.[/QUOTE]

You can say alot of things to me but not that.

I am an alchoholic, depressed, cheap and believe all problems will go away if I push them further deep down inside me. I like the rain and cry like a baby when I hear Scotland the Brave.

So GFY!!!

Clan Hay...look it up bub.

Serva Jugum!

[Warfish]

[QUOTE=FF2®;4427529]You can say alot of things to me but not that.

I am an alchoholic, depressed, cheap and believe all problems will go away if I push them further deep down inside me. I like the rain and cry like a baby when I hear Scotland the Brave.

So GFY!!!

Clan Hay...look it up bub.

Serva Jugum![/QUOTE]

Aye, you're probably as much a Scot as an ugly drunk sorrority girl is "Irish" on St. Paddy's day.;)

[FF2®]

[QUOTE=Warfish;4427537]Aye, you're probably as much a Scot as an ugly drunk sorrority girl is "Irish" on St. Paddy's day.;)[/QUOTE]

You make it very hard to like you.

[Apache 51]

Throw a grenade into the office of whoever made that decision.

[Bonhomme Richard]

[url]

[Warfish]

[QUOTE=FF2®;4427542]You make it very hard to like you.[/QUOTE]

Now you know how I feel about you.

Bout time.

[FF2®]

[QUOTE=Warfish;4427684]Now you know how I feel about you.

Bout time.[/QUOTE]

/shrug

[quantum]

[B]"I understand full-heartedly,"[/B]

I don't think I've ever heard that before.

half-heartedly
whole-heartedly


but not full.

hmmmm