What would you do if you were the principal of Westwood High?
I. Allow the Native American students to wear the eagle feathers now and in the future. This shows an appreciation for diversity.
2. Do not allow the Native American students to wear the eagle feathers because it violates an existing rule. Allowing an exception opens the door for additional requests about changing the dress code. How will you defend one exception over another?
3. Allow the students to wear the eagle feathers only in this year's ceremony, then form a committee to review the dress code requirements.
4. Invent other options. Discuss.
This dilemma involves a situation faced by Helen Riddle, the principal of Westwood High School in Mesa, Arizona. Westwood High has 225 Native American students, including 112 from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, most of which lies within the boundaries of the Mesa Unified School District. District wide there are 452 Native American high school students, 149 of whom are from the Salt River Reservation. Here is the situation: Native American students asked the principal if they could be allowed to wear eagle feathers during their graduation ceremony. Although this may seem like a reasonable request given these students' customs and traditions, Westwood High had a rule stating that, according to a newspaper report, "students were only allowed to wear a traditional cap and gown for graduation, with no other adornments or clothing, including military uniforms. The rules were based on past practice and tradition at schools, not school board policy."
Advocates for the Native American students argued that students should be allowed to wear the eagle feathers because they represent a significant achievement in the lives of those individuals. In contrast, one school board member opposed the exception to the rule because "it would open the door for other students wanting to display symbols of their own culture or background."