California honor student banned from graduation because of haircut

Jet, July 17, 1995

A straight-A honors student in Sacramento, CA, recently was banned from attending his graduation ceremony because his haircut was deemed "too short" by school officials there.

Ben Sharpe, 13, had just been honored with the Superintendent's Award for being the most outstanding eighth-grade student at Capital Christian Center School in the city. After receiving the honor, Ben was asked to give a short speech at the eight-grade graduation ceremony.

In preparation for his big day, Ben got a closely cropped cut. The next day school officials told Ben his haircut violated school rules and informed him that he would not be allowed to speak or participate in the graduation ceremony.

Ben's parents, Frank and Faye Sharpe, protested, but to no avail.

Ben, a top student who maintained a 4.0 grade point average and received commendations in every subject, including leadership, was not even mentioned during the graduation. It was as if her son didn't exist, Mrs. Sharpe said.

Ben told the Sacramento Bee that he had no idea the haircut would keep him from graduating.

"It's summer and getting hot now, and I told the barber to cut it close because it's cooler," he said. "I've seen many kids throughout the school year with short haircuts like mine. It isn't shaved; the barber used clippers."

Mrs. Faye told the newspaper that school officials kept talking about following the rules, however, they clearly were not. For instance, she pointed out that school regulations say first-time infractions are met with a warning. That was not the case for Ben.

Frank Sharpe, a pilot with United Airlines who took special leave to be home for his son's graduation expressed his anger to school officials. "I told them that they have no right to rob my son of what he rightfully earned," Mr. Sharpe told the paper. "It's more than a haircut. He's bright and he's Black and he's leaving their school for a different high school. The haircut is just an excuse."