Headwear ban: Valid safety rule or discrimination?
January 11, 2010 by Taylor HanniganPosted in: Campus Safety, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
A college said a new ban was motivated by safety concerns. Some said a religious exception was needed. Did the school agree?
The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy announced a new policy: Students can’t wear head coverings that block their faces unless they have a medical reason to do so.
In October, a Muslim alumnus of the college – who is also the son of a professor there – was charged with planning to shoot mall shoppers and kill Americans in Iraq. The college insisted the new ban had nothing to do with the arrest. Instead, it said the ban was put into place following an annual review of public safety procedures.
The school was quickly contacted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which said an exemption was needed to accommodate Muslims who wear face veils for religious reasons.
The school’s response: You’re right. It recently added a religious exception to the ban.
Do you think schools should be allowed to require students to show their faces at all times? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.
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Tags: Campus Safety, discrimination, religion
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February 4th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
No. Although, it is acceptable for the college to insist on everyone baring their heads for ID pictures. But to insist that everyone have exposed faces at all times and everywhere on campus is unrealistic. No only for religious concerns but for weather issues also. If the school insisted on bare faces or heads everywhere on campus, then anyone getting a bad headcold or frostbite could sue the school for not allowing them to protect themselves from the weather. Same thing in summer, if a student gets a sunburn, he could sue the school for not letting him protect himself from the sun.
When so many campuses require students to walk outside to get from one building to another in good or bad weather, any college that enforces this rule will find themselves with sick students and lots of nuisance lawsuits. In the north, especially during winter days when the temperature drops below 10 degrees with windchills in the negative degrees and everyone starts talking about frostbite. That is not to say that I don’t see students running around in shorts or in thin fashionable coats, it’s just that then it is the student’s stupid decision, not the school’s stupid rule.
So bare the head for ID photos only. And let it be okay to cover up the rest of the time.