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Opening Arguments

Semper fie

A Marine vs. Leo High School:

A soon to be Leo High School graduate will be skipping out on her big day this weekend because she won't be allowed to wear her Marine Corps dress blues.

Private Kylie Furnish graduated from high school early and recently graduated from Marine Corps Boot Camp.

Private Furnish had hoped to walk with her class this weekend wearing her Marine Corps dress blues, which is Marine Corps policy for a ceremony like this.

[. . .]

"The attire for all graduates of East Allen County Schools is a Cap and Gown representing the high school from which they graduate. This is a ceremony to recognize the achievements of four years of high school effort as seniors leave us and go on to many different aspects of life: work, college, military, service, homemaker, etc. Whereas we are aware there are many students who would prefer to wear their own choice of clothing at graduation to symbolize all different sorts of things, the Corporation's policy is that participation is contingent upon the required attire of a cap and gown. . ."

My immediate reaction to this story was to side with Private Furnish. We ask a lot of our soldiers, potentially including the ultimate sacrifice. If an exception is going to be made, it certainly should be made for them.

But the more I thought about it, the more I sympathized with the school system. Volunteering for the Marines is an admirable act, and the private deserves our gratitude and thanks. But that has nothing to do with the graduation, which is a ceremony to honor the four years of achievment of all students in a class. If she attended in her dress uniform, she would be the star, the center of attention in a way that detracted from everybody else's recognition.

And it's a little bit ironic that someone who has joined the military, in which unit cohesion is stressed and individuality repressed, would choose a battle over not being able to stand out from the crowd. The private is wrong, by the way, to suggest that the Marines require the dress uniform to be worn for such non-military occasions -- the uniform may be worn. She's young, so that's allowable overstatement, but of all those reporting on this story could have done a little simple research.

Comments

littlejohn
Wed, 06/15/2011 - 10:14am

This is trivial of course, but don't you agree that among all the branches of the military, the Marines have the most garish dress uniforms? When you combine, brightly, all the primary colors in the same outfit, you've overdone it.
It hurts my eyes, and I'm not even gay.

Kevin Knuth
Wed, 06/15/2011 - 11:46am

Seems to me that when my son graduated from FWCS in 2009 there were 2 or 3 classmates in their dress blues.

Harl Delos
Wed, 06/15/2011 - 1:45pm

If you allow Marines to wear their dress blues instead of a cap and gown, shouldn't they allow olympic athletes to wear their uniforms as well?

And Eagle Scouts should be able to wear their uniforms. And the star pitcher on the pony league team should be able to wear his. And the guy who is a nationally-ranked motocross racer should be able to wear his uniform.

The guy who has the lead in the Civic Theatre's latest production should be able to graduate in his stage costume. And, of course, the girl who's the new star at Brandy's Gentleman's Club should be able to graduate wearing her work outfit, too.

Or not wearing it, as she sees fit.

Andrew J
Wed, 06/15/2011 - 8:00pm

all the male examples of uniform wearing graduates are from exemplary groups and vocations. the one female graduate example is of a stripper. and u guys are surprised that u come across as a bunch of backward, sexist archie bunkers stuck in a time warp.

Tim Zank
Thu, 06/16/2011 - 11:02am

Andrew, please don't lump us all in with Harl's thoughts or comments. He appears to live in a world of his own.

Andrew J.
Thu, 06/16/2011 - 11:46am

Tim, fair enough.
AJ

Harl Delos
Thu, 06/16/2011 - 5:39pm

I'm not sure why you assume that the olympic athlete is male, Andrew. Is your sexism showing?

I think it is. Olympic athletes, those who engage in organized athletics as adults, and those who race motorcycles are statistically more likely to engage in drug abuse, more likely to be arrested for assault or for rape, more likely to kill someone by driving drunk, and yet you categorize them as examplary.

As Tim points out, I live in a different world, not one in which male entertainers are admired, and females are to be hidden in closets. Do you even know what sexism means?

Andrew J
Thu, 06/16/2011 - 8:02pm

yes I do. by the fact the one example where u clearly mention a woman, it's as a stripper.

Allen County Voter
Fri, 06/17/2011 - 12:14am

And who's to say the strippers are not exemplary? They're just dancing to put themselves through college and support their children - sounds pretty exemplary to me.

Andrew J.
Fri, 06/17/2011 - 7:40am

And if you are to identify one kind of woman, one kind of extracurricular endeavor, where wearing a uniform is required, for this discussion about uniforms and graduations, a stripper is the best example you can come up with?
AJ

Harl Delos
Fri, 06/17/2011 - 2:35pm

I gave exactly one example that was obviously male, that of an Eagle Scout, and one example that was obviously female, that of an ecdysiast at Brandy's.

Your assumption that women cannot compete in the Olympics, that they cannot cannot compete in motocross, that they cannot perform on the stage, cannot pitch in Pony baseball is both factually wrong, and offensive.

Yes, the dancer I mentioned wasn't the best example I could come up with, but people playing Angry Birds don't wear uniforms. I was looking for *bad* examples.

Good examples are easy to find. An EMT, or a volunteer fireman, or the waitress at Hall's wears a uniform, does a difficult job, and leaves the world a better place for it. It's bad examples that are hard to find. Amateurs achieving excellence in recreation do relatively little harm, and the dancer does some good, unlike military personnel whose organization's mission is death and destruction.

There are many holidays every year when military people are venerated, many events where athletes are cheered, but how many recognize academic excellence? Graduation is something special, and ought to remain special.

Andrew J.
Fri, 06/17/2011 - 3:16pm

Except when you mentioned motorcross, you used the word "guy." And when you mentioned the civic theater, you singled out guy. And when you mention the pitcher, you said "his" uniform. Guess when you talk, you are the one who assumes women can't compete in those endeavors since you only mention men. And if you are a woman reading your comments, don't be surprised if she finds that offensive.
AJ

William Larsen
Fri, 06/17/2011 - 9:48pm

Who is graduation for? Is it for the student or the corporation? Who funds the corporation? I went to IPFW

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