Fort Myers High School class president stripped of National Honor Society title for wearing sundress

[NightHawkeye]

See the Sundress That Caused Straight-A Teen to Be Stripped of Her National Honor Society Title | The Blaze

After working hard to make straight As and the honor roll, a 17-year-old junior at Fort Meyers High School was reportedly stripped of her National Honor Society title because she wore a sundress that revealed her shoulders during an election victory speech.​

 

[Cearbhall]

Extremely strange. I've never heard of such a consequence for a minor dress code violation. It's not like she was wearing gang symbols. What does her membership in the NHS have to do with this type of rule violation? I realize that a suspension or an accusation of criminal activity can make you ineligible for leadership positions and membership in societies, but this?

 

[NightHawkeye]

Extremely strange. I've never heard of such a consequence for a minor dress code violation. It's not like she was wearing gang symbols. What does her membership in the NHS have to do with this type of rule violation? I realize that a suspension or an accusation of criminal activity can make you ineligible for leadership positions and membership in societies, but this?

As I understand it the NHS allows teachers to blackball students for any reason whatsoever.

Back when I was in high school, admittedly decades past, our salutatorian was blackballed by a teacher throughout her entire time in high school.

 

[Cearbhall]

As I understand it the NHS allows teachers to blackball students for any reason whatsoever.

Ugh. Glad I didn't go to a corrupt high school.

 

[Ada Lovelace]

See the Sundress That Caused Straight-A Teen to Be Stripped of Her National Honor Society Title | The Blaze

After working hard to make straight As and the honor roll, a 17-year-old junior at Fort Meyers High School was reportedly stripped of her National Honor Society title because she wore a sundress that revealed her shoulders during an election victory speech.​

*Smh* More draconian enforcement of the "letter of the law" than any kindness or care about the spirit of it. A memory popped into my mind when I saw her dress; it's of me watching The Today Show playing in the kitchen while having breakfast back when I was in elementary school, and how there was this collective tsk tsk tsking and other manufactured disapproval of young women from a champion college softball team meeting then-President George W. Bush at the White House on a warm day, for wearing pretty sundresses and summer shoes. It was then characterized as irreverence and "showing up to meet the Commander of the Free World in flip flops." I was thinking - my gosh, people seriously have too much time on their hands and a hobby for criticism. The young women, their coach, and their moms were on the show explaining and defending the attire, and how it was chosen with care and not in any way meant to be disrespectful or inappropriate.

I was elected to give a speech at my graduation in a few weeks, and if that honor was stripped from me because of bare shoulders I think I'd freaking explode. Snatching away something you've spent four years of your life working hard for because of a sundress is just so hugely disproportionate to the offense, and it sends a terrible message. I do think that students should be made aware of the dress code and expected to be in compliance, but I also think the intent of compliance is a crucial factor. Showing up wearing a bikini or an offensive tee shirt would be a clear and deliberate violation. Showing up in a sundress with spaghetti straps - when it's clear just from the girl standing beside her that sundresses themselves are appropriate is a breach due to a minor technicality, not defiance.

Shoulders are a common sight in southwest Florida,” Boland told the New York Daily News. “She put it best by saying, ‘What everyone is showing me here is my shoulders are more valued than my brain.’”

She's right.

ETA: I just spotted this in Seventeen, and it has additional relevant information. The ceremony wasn't held at her own school, but another one, and as a special event outside of school hours. When made aware that she was violating the dress code she offered to put on the jacket she had brought with her, apologize, and redeliver the speech to be able to retain the title, but the advisors at the event said no. This was not in accordance to the districts policy for handling dress code infractions, which states that students are to be issued a verbal warning first, and shouldn't lose their eligibility to participate in extracurriculars until the second or third offense. Since she was never warned about her attire and was allowed to give her speech and be awarded the position, she and her mom rightfully agree that it shouldn't have been stripped after the fact. She had the ability to correct the problem if she'd been made aware of it prior to giving the speech since she had a jacket with her.

It also says that other students complained to advisors about her dress, and that's what led to the title being stripped. That reeks of spiteful pettiness to me. I mean, c'mon. Adults saw her with their own eyes, too. If they felt like she was in violation of the policy they should have either approached her before the speech and asked her to put the jacket on, or simply issued the warning afterwards. Ugh. Flashbacks. This reminds me of when we won a national dance title, and then a competing studio complained that our prop was an inch higher than the rules permitted. The thing is, they'd seen us performing with it in dress rehearsal and didn't raise a peep. They waited until the judges scored us and were going to induct us into the Hall of Fame to make a complaint. It only served them to make a fuss if they were second and could then claim our victory. If they genuinely were complaining because they thought it was a safety violation like they later claimed to same face, it sorta seems they wouldn't have said something before we performed.

 

[NightHawkeye]

Ugh. Glad I didn't go to a corrupt high school.

Back when I was in school apparently it only took one teacher to prevent a student from getting into NHS. Perhaps that's changed, though it doesn't sound like it has changed greatly.

If I were this girl, I'd wear the NHS rejection as badge of honor. I expect she'll be a better person for having been denied membership.

 

[TerranceL]

Back when I was in school apparently it only took one teacher to prevent a student from getting into NHS. Perhaps that's changed, though it doesn't sound like it has changed greatly.

If I were this girl, I'd wear the NHS rejection as badge of honor. I expect she'll be a better person for having been denied membership.

"I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member".

 

[tulc]

I had the same thing happen to me when I wore a sundress to deliver my speech. They kept yelling that I couldn't give it because I wasn't a member of the school and they complained my dreadlocks and beard clashed with the sundress I was wearing. Land of the free my foot!
tulc(had to drink a lot of coffee that day!)

 

[revanneosl]

Tulc, I will pay cash money to see a pic of that.

As to the OP, will these jackwagons never tire of their crusade to control women's bodies?

 

[keith99]

*Smh* More draconian enforcement of the "letter of the law" than any kindness or care about the spirit of it. A memory popped into my mind when I saw her dress; it's of me watching The Today Show playing in the kitchen while having breakfast back when I was in elementary school, and how there was this collective tsk tsk tsking and other manufactured disapproval of young women from a champion college softball team meeting then-President George W. Bush at the White House on a warm day, for wearing pretty sundresses and summer shoes. It was then characterized as irreverence and "showing up to meet the Commander of the Free World in flip flops." I was thinking - my gosh, people seriously have too much time on their hands and a hobby for criticism. The young women, their coach, and their moms were on the show explaining and defending the attire, and how it was chosen with care and not in any way meant to be disrespectful or inappropriate.

I was elected to give a speech at my graduation in a few weeks, and if that honor was stripped from me because of bare shoulders I think I'd freaking explode. Snatching away something you've spent four years of your life working hard for because of a sundress is just so hugely disproportionate to the offense, and it sends a terrible message. I do think that students should be made aware of the dress code and expected to be in compliance, but I also think the intent of compliance is a crucial factor. Showing up wearing a bikini or an offensive tee shirt would be a clear and deliberate violation. Showing up in a sundress with spaghetti straps - when it's clear just from the girl standing beside her that sundresses themselves are appropriate is a breech due to a minor technicality, not defiance.



She's right.

But the rules is the rules! And there is nothing new under the sun!

When I was a High School senior the pendulum was swinging toward more freedom for students. They created something called a senior privilege card that would allow seniors to leave campus at lunch or nutrition. I do not know if schools still do this but they also gave marks for 'work habits' and 'cooperation' (I think I have the second one right, I am sure of the first) just 3 grades, excellent, satisfactory and un satisfactory. Those were not reported to colleges on the transcript. A senior had to have a b average and no 'unsatisfactories'. I was, am and always will be a math geek. compared to my math and science aptitude I'm thick as a brick in everything else. Which means that I was good enough to be the student needed to keep the AP European History class alive, without me there were not enough students to meet the district rules. The teacher of the AP European History class, a good guy, gave me an unsatisfactory in work habits. Actually a smart move, my work habits were not up to par for college work and he wanted to give me a kick in the pants that caused me no real harm. And at the time he gave the mark he was right, they made the rules for those cards after that occurred. But no privilege card for me even if I was one of only 2 students with 2 AP classes if you did not count foreign language. Counting foreign language it might have been a half dozen. (AP classes were far fewer then. 2 history classes, Calculus, foreigh language and perhaps one English class). If one counts my phantom AP Physics class I was the only one with 3 AP classes! (I got a passing grade on the AP physics exam just taking regular high school physics). But no privilege card. Rules are rules after all.

Oh and the kicker was I had been going home for lunch, permitted if you lived within 3 blocks of school. But they decided to change the rules to 2 or measure differently. Don't remember which. I beat them into submission on that, after a few days of a separate note every day they gave up!

BTW the pendulum has swung, there are fences and gates where there used to be nothing. Except for lacking barbed wire at the top it looks more like a prison than a school today.

 

[Cearbhall]

ETA: I just spotted this in Seventeen, and it has additional relevant information. The ceremony wasn't held at her own school, but another one, and as a special event outside of school hours. When made aware that she was violating the dress code she offered to put on the jacket she had brought with her, apologize, and redeliver the speech to be able to retain the title, but the advisors at the event said no.

Thanks for the info.

This was not in accordance to the districts policy for handling dress code infractions. which states that students are to be issued a verbal warning first, and shouldn't lose their eligibility to participate in extracurriculars until the second or third offense.

This sounds much more reasonable and is roughly what I would expect.

 

[NightHawkeye]

Thanks for the info.

This sounds much more reasonable and is roughly what I would expect.

But, again, I will point out that the NHS in the past, and presumably even now, has relied on the judgement of teachers, not official school policy.

 

[Cearbhall]

Back when I was in school apparently it only took one teacher to prevent a student from getting into NHS. Perhaps that's changed, though it doesn't sound like it has changed greatly.

This definitely was not the case at my high school. There was a simple application process that we went through. If you met the requirements (GPA, volunteer hours, etc.), then you became a member. I don't think any teacher had the ability to veto our membership. The administration wouldn't have allowed that.

 

[NightHawkeye]

This definitely was not the case at my high school. There was a simple application process that we went through. If you met the requirements (GPA, volunteer hours, etc.), then you became a member. I don't think any teacher had the ability to veto our membership. The administration wouldn't have allowed that.

I got curious and looked at the NHS website for qualifications.

How to become a student member | National Honor Society

Every chapter has different qualifications for membership based on the four pillars of National Honor Society: character, scholarship, leadership, and service. Chapters are required to publish their selection procedures, so ask your local chapter adviser or principal for a copy.

Per the NHS National Constitution, all chapters' eligibility requirements must include, at minimum:

- attending school in grades 10 through 12
- maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 85 percent, B, 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale), or equivalent standard of excellence
- demonstrating volunteer or service hours
- preserving an excellent record of behavior in and out of school
- participating in leadership roles in school and/or community activities.
​

That "excellent record of behavior" requirement seems to be the wildcard ... and the basis for expelling the subject of the OP. Schools may implement it different ways but it allows for expulsion of "undesirables".

 

[rambot]

That's bunk junk. I have no problem with dress codes (and frankly, think school uniforms are fantastic), but this level of reaction is completely irrational.
EDIT: GREAT quote from the girl: "“Shoulders are a common sight in southwest Florida,” Boland told the New York Daily News. “She put it best by saying, ‘What everyone is showing me here is my shoulders are more valued than my brain.’”

 

[TerranceL]

That's bunk junk. I have no problem with dress codes (and frankly, think school uniforms are fantastic), but this level of reaction is completely irrational.
EDIT: GREAT quote from the girl: "“Shoulders are a common sight in southwest Florida,” Boland told the New York Daily News. “She put it best by saying, ‘What everyone is showing me here is my shoulders are more valued than my brain.’”

This just in, person who breaks the rules and gets smacked down for it tries to twist the situation to make themselves a victim.

No, her shoulders aren't valued more than her brain, it's her inability to follow the same rules that everyone else is expected to follow that has gotten her in trouble.

 

[Ada Lovelace]

This just in, person who breaks the rules and gets smacked down for it tries to twist the situation to make themselves a victim.

No, her shoulders aren't valued more than her brain, it's her inability to follow the same rules that everyone else is expected to follow that has gotten her in trouble.

Sure, her innocent misunderstanding of the terms of the dress code policy doesn't equate to her being entitled to violate it without consequence. But, by the same token, the advisors should have also adhered to the policy's protocol for disciplining infractions. The policy states that for a first offense a verbal warning is to be issued and a parent notified; eligibility to participate in extracurricular activities and events are only to be revoked for repeated offenses. This was her first offense. She didn't attend the school where the NHS event was being held, which probably contributed to her lack of familiarity about the specifics of the dress code. Some schools more strictly enforce the policies than others. According to the district-wide policy each school can add additional standards as they deem necessary, such as specifically not permitting spaghetti straps on sundresses, but the protocol for how infractions are to handled is the same for all campuses.

If the advisors had followed it and issued the warning, she could have simply put on the jacket she'd brought with her to the event. Simple. She wasn't already wearing it presumably because it's especially hot this time of the year in South Florida, and the air conditioning wasn't cranked up to the point of needing it. Instead, she was permitted her to give her speech and be awarded the position, and then was stripped of it after the fact.

 

[TerranceL]

Sure, her innocent misunderstanding of the terms of the dress code policy doesn't equate to her being entitled to violate it without consequence. But, by the same token, the advisors should have also adhered to the policy's protocol for disciplining infractions. The policy states that for a first offense a verbal warning is to be issued and a parent notified; eligibility to participate in extracurricular activities and events are only to be revoked for repeated offenses. This was her first offense. She didn't attend the school where the NHS event was being held, which probably contributed to her lack of familiarity about the specifics of the dress code. Some schools more strictly enforce the policies than others. According to the district-wide policy each school can add additional standards as they deem necessary, such as specifically not permitting spaghetti straps on sundresses, but the protocol for how infractions are to handled is the same for all campuses.

If the advisors had followed it and issued the warning, she could have simply put on the jacket she'd brought with her to the event. Simple. She wasn't already wearing it presumably because it's especially hot this time of the year in South Florida, and the air conditioning wasn't cranked up to the point of needing it. Instead, she was permitted her to give her speech and be awarded the position, and then was stripped of it after the fact.

Oh I don't disagree that the punishment was too much it's the drama in her statement she knows exactly why she was punished. As for a misunderstanding.. if she's the class president and was in the NHS I would think she would be bright enough to understand a simple dress code. It's not rocket surgery.

 

[Oafman]

Florida doing it's best Saudi Arabia impression

 

[Armoured]

This is an awful story. I hope she is either able to find an avenue for a successful appeal, or that exclusion from this organisation doesn't cost her in any meaningful way.

Bare shoulders? In Florida? Seriously?