A Muslim student who was forced to obtain permission to wear her headscarf at Hampton University believes that she was treated unfairly, even though all students must abide by the same rule.
Hampton is a private, historically-black college in Virginia, and maintains a strict dress code. Students are no allowed to wear hats unless they receive administrative approval. Melona Clark wanted to wear a hijab–in accordance with her Islamic views–and received permission from the appropriate channels.
“Caps and hoods are banned” at the school, according to The Daily Mail.
But the story doesn’t end there. Clark believes the policy is outrageous, and now carries her multiple permission slips with her at all times in case she needs to prove her headscarf-eligibility to Hampton police. This makes her feel like a stranger in a foreign country, she said.
“I don’t want to have to through anything like I had to in the first place, and I don’t want to have other people go through that either,” she said in an interview with local news.
The local news reporter seemed to side with Clark, and lamented that the burden placed on would-be hat-wearers at Hampton seemed onerous.
Hampton University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.