Nina Davuluri (from Facebook)
The York (Pa.) Dispatch reports that a student was suspended in-school for 3½ days because he disrupted an assembly about STEM studies at a school district’s annual Diversity Fair. Normally, that wouldn’t make news headlines, but it was the nature of the disruption that has everyone from the school using the #freepatty hashtag, referring to the young man who asked Miss America to the prom during that assembly.
Nina Davuluri, who was named Miss America back in September, was a perfect fit for assemblies of this nature. She herself received a few hateful tweets suggesting she wasn’t ‘American’ enough to be Miss America, she told NPR. “It’s a difficult situation, and that was something I experienced even as Miss New York. That being said, for every one negative tweet or comment that I have seen or received, I have received dozens of positive words of encouragement, support and love,” the station quoted her as saying.
Tweets don’t count as news, so we won’t repeat them, since Ms Davuluri, an Indian-American, won the beauty contest fair and square after being named Miss New York in July. The Miss America scholarship, valued at $50,000, will no doubt help her attend medical school after the Miss America tour is over. Earlier pageant scholarships allowed her to graduate from the University of Michigan debt-free.
The high school student who asked her to prom last week, Patrick Farves, started serving his suspension on Friday and will continue Monday through Wednesday of next week. Ms Davuluri says she tried to get the district to reconsider the suspension, but the school isn’t buying it. She describes the situation quite well on Miss America’s Facebook page, so we will leave it in her words:
A message from Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri: “On Thursday, a student invited me to prom and gave me a flower while I was giving a presentation in York, Pennsylvania. I was flattered by the gesture although I am unfortunately unable to attend due to my travel schedule. I later learned of the disciplinary action taken and reached out to the school in hopes that they will reconsider their decision.
“Meeting and interacting with students across the country has been an important and rewarding part of my year as Miss America. I always encourage students to follow their dreams through education, and I’m inspired daily by the enthusiasm and aspirations of the bright young adults I have the pleasure of meeting through my travels.”
The school, Central York High School, also issued a statement on its Facebook page in response to the widespread media coverage of their handling of this matter:
Central York School District has issued a statement in response to media stories suggesting that a student was suspended for asking Miss America to prom during a school assembly April 17, 2014. You may read the full statement here:
Central York School District Statement Regarding Miss America Assembly at Central York High School
It is not our practice to discipline a student for asking someone — even Miss America — to a school dance. However, it is our practice to set expectations for student behavior, to communicate those expectations and rules to students and families and to ensure those rules are followed within our schools. This practice is not uncommon and happens every day, multiple times a day, in schools, businesses and homes across America.
Let’s take the rules of parents, for example. If I tell my child to be home by 10 PM, and my husband tells our child to be home at 10 PM, what do we do if our child defies us and returns home at midnight? As parents, we would be remiss not to give an appropriate consequence to our child for deliberately defying us so that our child understands that our rules should be followed and respected. Schools must operate in the same way.
Yesterday’s event was a wonderful experience for our students and a once in a lifetime opportunity for our district, and it is a shame that the media wants to frame this story to sell papers and make headlines using a distortion of what actually occurred.
For the record, even though this fact is not mentioned in the school’s official statement, school officials did ask Mr Farves not to pop the prom question during the assembly, and his request was a violation of those instructions.
We’re offended, a little, by the district’s implication that news outlets are in it just for the money. We’re not trying to distort things, but we have no interest in money (Voxitatis is a nonprofit organization). However, a student being suspended for non-violent actions is a newsworthy event, because many experts, including the Maryland State Board of Education and the New York City Public Schools (see here), believe it’s best to keep students in class unless they might hurt someone.
Ms Davuluri is a very smart, pretty woman, and Mr Farves saw and took an opportunity to ask her on a date. What do you know? Kids do stupid things sometimes. She was not offended in the least, based on her response, and politely said no. That’s where we think this one should end, not with a suspension, even if it is an in-school suspension, and that is not butting in on our part. Students belong in class, and it is the responsibility of the school to provide that, as long as a safe environment can be maintained for all students.
Asking Miss America to prom is not the kind of student speech that might create a downward spiral of defiant students. In this case, the district should listen to Miss America and reconsider this punishment for a non-violent offense.
