NEW ORLEANS – A student at a Maurepas school was sent home by the principal for refusing to take off an Indianapolis Colts jersey, according to a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union.
“(T)he Principal of Maurepas High School, which had declared that students could wear jerseys in support of the New Orleans Saints, punished a student for wearing a jersey in support of the Indianapolis Colts,” said ACLU Executive Director Margie Esman in an e-mail.
“The student, who had lived most of his life in Indianapolis and has an outstanding academic record, was called out of class and told that he was not allowed to wear that shirt. When he refused to change his shirt, the principal sent him home.”
This prompted the ACLU of Louisiana to take up the case of the student.
Esman said she sent a letter to Principal Steven Vampran, demanding that the unnamed student’s tarnished record is restored and the school erase any disciplinary action.
“To allow students to express support of one team but not the other amounts to forcing support of the team that the Principal likes,” said Esman. “As excited as people are about the Saints going to the Super Bowl, students like everyone else have the right to choose which team they prefer.”
