December 23, 2004
NOT A RED STATE
Santa ordered disrobed at Hampton 'holiday' dance (Jerry Miller, Manchester Union Leader, 12/23/04)
A student dressed as Santa Claus was told to remove the suit and white beard when he arrived at a Hampton Academy Junior High School dance last Friday.They'd be on more solid ground if they argued that they didn't want to promote Coca Cola at a school function. Posted by David Cohen at December 23, 2004 7:14 PMSAU 21 Superintendent of Schools James Gaylord yesterday said, "This was not appropriate dress for this dance."
Nancy Serpis, chairman of the Hampton School Board, echoed Gaylord, insisting the dance was a "holiday" event and that dressing as Santa Claus was "inappropriate." . . .
Principal Fred Muscara, who declined to be interviewed for this story, is quoted telling a Hampton newspaper: "It was a holiday party. It was not a Christmas party. There is a separation of church and state. We have a lot of students that go to Hampton Academy Junior High that have different religions. We have to be sensitive to that."
How can Santa Claus be inappropriate at Christmas?
Posted by: pj at December 23, 2004 7:46 PMThey'd be on more solid ground if they argued that they didn't want to promote Coca Cola at a school function.
They only do that if the school district has taken a big wad of money from the local Pepsi bottler to be the only soft drink provider at the school campusus ... unless Pepsi sends that delivery truck full of elves that's been on TV for the past month. Then all bets are off.
Posted by: John at December 23, 2004 7:56 PMMonsieur Muscara must be one of my students. For it would seem to him that "holiday" is a signifer without a signified. Joyeux Noel, err, Holiday!
Posted by: J. Derrida (deceased) at December 23, 2004 8:07 PMDid they specify a dress code before the dance began? If the dance specifies business casual or semi-formal, they can boot the kid out, but if the rules are silent about dress, they have no shot. Does he bar kids from school who wear yarmulkes or crucifixes?
If this Muscara character said what he said about this not being a Christmas Party but a holiday party, then he must be dumber than a crate of really stupid rocks.
Posted by: Bart at December 23, 2004 8:56 PMIs this just another example of leftover resentment from the election? Maybe I've simply been paying closer attention or perhaps it's been in the news more frequently but there seems to be an abundance of stupidity during this Christmas season.
Posted by: MB at December 23, 2004 10:33 PMAt schools of eduction, do they have classes in Post-Modern Prudery 401 where they learn this stuff? As part of the graduation ceremony do they remove the sense of humor as they confer the Masters Degree? Or is it that people who are naturally humorless gravitate to Ed.School and become senior administrators?
Yet Hollywood continues to inflict the stereotype of the uptight Christian on us. Talk about living in the past. The only prudes these days are the ones found on the Left.
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at December 23, 2004 11:48 PMDon't feel bad. The lemmings have left off marching toward the cliff and are now running as fast as their little legs can carry them. You see, the P.C. gang has never heard of Admiral Yamamoto, either.
Posted by: Lou Gots at December 24, 2004 8:27 AM