Homecoming Queen Banned From School Event for ‘Insubordination’ After Wearing Mexican Graduation Stole
A homecoming queen from Freeport, Texas was just banned from an event at her former high school. The school’s reasoning? According to them, the Mexican heritage stole she wore at graduation was an act of “insubordination.”
As reported by KHOU 11, Brazosport High School did not invite last year’s homecoming queen, Kayleigh Craddock, to their event this Friday.
The school event traditionally invites the former year’s homecoming queen to crown the new one. However, this time around, Craddock cannot attend because she “wore an unapproved sash” to her graduation in May.
As Craddock expressed to the outlet, “It’s a tradition, you know? Why stop it now? That’s what is bothering me. I feel like I should still be able to give the girl the next crown.”
About her graduation stole, the homecoming queen said, “I love being Mexican”
According to CNN, Craddock wore a special stole representing her Mexican heritage during graduation in May.
Fast-forward to this month and the student was excited to go back to her high school and crown the new homecoming queen. However, her mother, Cynthia Vasquez, told CNN that the school’s principal called her to inform her that her daughter could not attend. Their decision was based on Craddock’s graduation stole.
The Brazosport Independent School District explained in a statement to mitú, “Unfortunately, a student wore an unapproved sash that was not in the guidelines for graduation dress. Because of the insubordination at the graduation ceremony last May, the graduate was not invited back to participate in the crowning of this year’s Homecoming Queen.”
Craddock told KHOU 11 that her stole was a show of pride for her Mexican heritage. “I wanted to represent my culture. I love being Mexican and I will forever be proud.”
“She loves being Mexican. She loves being Black,” her mother added to the outlet. Explaining her daughter “loves to represent both her cultures, that’s why she wears her braids.”
However, the school district told mitú that “the student was asked to comply with the dress guidelines and refused.” Their issue with Craddock’s stole was that “school policy addresses the wearing of unauthorized sashes or accessories.”
The district also asserted, “Graduation dress guidelines are communicated to all graduates.” Still, Craddock told KHOU 11 that the school’s policy on wearing the stole to graduation was more unclear than that.
“We couldn’t, we could. We could, we couldn’t and now we could,” she said. Per her recollection, no one told her to remove the stole.
In fact, her mother told CNN that a teacher simply told Craddock to tuck the stole into her gown. As the student now puts it, “I wouldn’t have brought it if it was out of dress code.”
As one X user recently wrote about the “disheartening” situation, “Embracing one’s cultural identity should be celebrated, not penalized. We should be promoting inclusivity and honour diversity in our educational institutions.”
Even more, both Craddock and her mother question the school’s decision to remove her from the event just “a week” before. Vasquez told KHOU 11, “Just seems kind of petty at this point. It seems petty. Because you could’ve addressed this back in May and here we are a week before.”
She also recalled her daughter telling her, “Mom, you already bought everything. All this money … What now?”
Now, Sergio Lira, the president of Greater Houston League of United Latin American Citizens Council 4967, tells Houston Public Media they are considering pursuing the incident. “We’re very, very upset about this situation.”
“In particular, during Hispanic Heritage Month, it just seems to be a continuous slap in the face to our culture,” Lira added. “And the insensitivity of the school officials to allow this or to tolerate this type of behavior, it’s just unacceptable.”
As Craddock’s mom questioned on Facebook, “There were plenty of kids that were out of dress code but mine wears her MEXICAN stole and there’s a problem?”
