DETROIT — Civil libertarians are chastising Oxford Community Schools for not allowing high school graduates to wear orange cords to symbolize they are survivors of gun violence as they crossed the stage to obtain their diplomas Thursday.
Two attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan sent the district a letter Thursday, hours before the ceremony in Oakland County, that said: "Students at graduations around the nation engage in the non-disruptive practice of decorating their caps to express their hopes, fears, memories, views, and personalities. Oxford's students should be permitted to do the same — they should not 'be confined to the expression of those sentiments that are officially approved.'"
Orange is the color of the gun violence prevention movement. Many seniors said they planned to wear them Thursday at graduation. It was not immediately clear Friday how many had, but parents confirmed that some graduates wore the cords.
