Utah school’s ban on leis
riles Polynesian familyA high school graduate instead wears
his garlands underneath his robes
A Utah high school's ban of wearing leis during a graduation ceremony has drawn protests from a graduate's Hawaii-born mother and directors of the state's ethnic offices.
"It's just discrimination, period," said Leilani Rosalez, who moved to Utah from Laie at age 9. "When they would not let me put a lei on my son so he could take a picture, that's going too far."
Her son, Kaili Tonga, is one of two students of Polynesian ancestry at Woods Cross High School, which is mostly made up of white students, Rosalez said.
For Tonga, wearing leis was a matter of cultural pride, she said. He had gone to Hawaii with his father to pick up 15 leis ranging from maile to orchid.
"We try not to lose where we came from as a Polynesian people," said his mother. "We try to keep our culture and ethnic background."
So Tonga was greatly disappointed, she said, when Woods Cross High School officials announced no flower or candy leis, among other items, could be worn to the June 4 graduation ceremony.
His mother made several pleas to the principal and school district officials. The principal, Rick Call, finally agreed to let Tonga wear one lei under his gown.
But on graduation day, he wore two leis -- a maile and a kukui nut -- under his gown, and teachers attempted to have him remove the maile lei before he went onstage to receive his diploma, Rosalez said. He refused.
After he left the stage, teachers stood guard to make sure his family members could not present him with more leis, she said.
Rosalez said graduates took photographs on the side of the stage, and she wanted him to wear his leis when he took his photo.
But the teachers blocked family members from approaching Tonga, she said.
"It's like they made a big deal out of it. It was uncalled for, and it was degrading and made me feel very little. It was supposed to be a special time."
Call said wearing items over the graduation gowns was getting out of hand and that the school needed to draw the line.
"It has become a real distraction for our school," he said, with some students wearing posters and candy leis. "If you allow flower leis for anyone, whether cultural or not, do you allow anyone else to wear anything else on their gown?"
He said school and community councils decided only cords for academic honor graduates and approved clubs could be worn.
"The issue here is insensitivity to culture," said Bill Afeaki, director of the state Office of Pacific Islander Affairs.
Afeaki said wearing leis is part of Polynesian culture and has become part of Utah culture, where they have the fourth-largest population of Pacific Islanders in the country.
"All the high schools are wearing leis," said Afeaki. "Even the school administrators during the ceremony onstage are draped with leis."
Afeaki pointed out that Woods Cross High School is in a predominantly white school district.
"That is why I took the stand that I did," he said. "Everywhere else where there are a lot of Pacific Islanders, it's no problem."
Directors of the state's Hispanic, Asian and African-American affairs offices supported Afeaki's position and protested the ban to the school district superintendent.
Rosalez said, "You've got to stand up for who you are, where you come from and your culture, and let no one take it away."