By now, we are used to hearing about the anti-military left on college campuses, and the refusal of some elite institutions (i.e. Princeton University) to reinstate ROTC, even after the repeal of (Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) DADT earlier this year. Administrators’ disregard for students who wish to join the military has now passed on to high schools as well.
Earlier this month, Jordan Marker and Joel Hunsicker, two seniors at Schuylkill Valley High School in Pennsylvania, were pulled aside moments before they were set to walk across the stage at commencement because they were wearing sashes given to them by Army recruiters to honor their pending service.
The two students, who wanted to show their pride of the US military and its soldiers, were told that they would not be allowed to walk with the sashes because it would be unfair to allow some students to wear other garments. The superintendent of the school said in a statement after graduation that the school did not “want to honor one group and disappoint another.”
Meanwhile, National Honor Society students are allowed to wear their sashes designating their status as part of this group, which seems rather inconsistent if the goal of the school is to make everyone feel equal on graduation day.
Both students opted to sit with their families and watch their friends walk across the stage in the graduation ceremony – with their sashes on.