Why did one SC senior get booted from her own high school graduation? She wore pants
Clad in slacks and a button down, 17-year-old Dynasia Clark arrived at her high school in South Carolina ready to graduate on Tuesday.
Instead, she watched from afar.
Clark was prevented from walking because she did not wear a dress to the in-person graduation ceremony, per the dress code requirement at Lamar High School in Darlington County, about an hour east of Columbia. But Clark, who is gay, said “everybody knows me.”
“I’m not changing who I am or how I am for (anybody),” she told McClatchy News.
Darlington County is one of several districts in South Carolina that opted to hold an in-person graduation ceremony after the coronavirus shut down schools statewide. Graduates were allowed two tickets for guests and seating was assigned six feet apart in the stands, WMBF reported.
Photos posted on Facebook of the ceremony at Lamar High School show chairs spaced out on the football field for the graduates with some attendees also wearing masks.
A spokesperson for Darlington County Schools did not say Wednesday what the dress requirements for graduation were but told McClatchy it’s now reviewing the district’s “graduation dress code practices.”
“We welcome students or parents who have concerns with any policy or procedure to meet with administration and discuss those concerns,” spokesperson Audrey Childers said in an email. “In the past, when a student raised concern with the Lamar High School administration about the dress code prior to graduation day, the issue was addressed.”
By Thursday, the district said Superintendent Tim Newman had reached out to Clark and apologized.
“I appreciate the student for bringing her concern to our attention,” Newman said in a statement. “The Darlington County School District recognizes that the dress code rule is not consistent with our commitment to being inclusive for all students. This practice has been eliminated, effective immediately.”
Clark told McClatchy she knew about the dress code but said she was more comfortable wearing pants.
When she arrived at Lamar High School for the ceremony Tuesday morning, Clark said the principal approached and told her she was supposed to wear a dress.
“The principal knew me personally so I didn’t think she expected me to wear a dress,” Clark said.
She then found her mother and grandmother in the stadium to let them know what happened before leaving to stand outside the gate. She said she watched the ceremony from afar with a friend who graduated in 2019 and was working with the EMT on standby.
“I stood outside the gate with her to calm down,” Clark said.
But when the graduating class of 2020’s names were called, she said hers was skipped.
“I was beyond angry because even though I didn’t wear what the principal wanted, I still earned my diploma and the right to walk across the stage with my classmates,” she told McClatchy.
Clark said the principal sent the guidance counselor to speak with her after the ceremony ended.
“I hope that people will see how someone will always be there to knock you down about how you are or who you are but it’s up to you to not respond negatively,” she said. “Some of the teachers were just as mad as I was because they know that I deserved it and no dress code should’ve changed it.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 6:18 PM.
