{"id":34912,"date":"2016-04-19T00:15:57","date_gmt":"2016-04-19T03:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/?p=34912"},"modified":"2016-11-24T21:44:50","modified_gmt":"2016-11-25T00:44:50","slug":"the-citadel-considers-hijab-in-uniform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/19\/the-citadel-considers-hijab-in-uniform\/","title":{"rendered":"The Citadel Considers a Hijab in Uniform"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"citadel\"For the first time in its history, The Citadel is considering a request for a uniform exception<\/a> that would allow a cadet to keep a religious accoutrement. Interestingly, the request came from a female (and\u00a0females were only allowed in The Citadel at all starting in 1995).<\/p>\n

The Citadel is considering a request from an admitted student that she be allowed to wear a hijab in keeping with her Muslim faith, a move that would be an unprecedented exception to the school\u2019s longstanding uniform requirements.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Citadel is not the US military, nor is it a state actor — but it does receive state money. That was why the US Supreme Court ruled against Virginia Military Institute in 1996, essentially saying as long as VMI accepted public money, it couldn’t discriminate on the basis of gender.<\/p>\n

While the fact the accepted cadet is a Muslim has increased the attention, those objecting to a potential accommodation have mainly done so on the basis of the\u00a0structure of The Citadel. That is, cadets attend The Citadel knowing and accepting the environment to which they are applying — not trying to change that environment to fit their personal mold:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret that you can\u2019t wear what you want when you\u2019re at the Citadel. You\u2019re punished even for wearing what you want when you\u2019re not on campus. But, those who come here are signing up for that, no matter how much they hate it (we do). So it\u2019s not unfair to those people who want to join an organization with the intentions of excluding themselves from the regulations, it\u2019s unfair to those who practice within the realms of those regulations. It\u2019s unfair to the school having to change rules and adjust to the individual, when the individual could\u2019ve gone to USC without incident. Your expression of self shouldn\u2019t place a burden of cost on others.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Another cadet wrote:<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t wear a tshirt around campus that says \u201cI love Jesus\u201d. Why? It\u2019s not because of religious intolerance, it\u2019s because it does not meet uniform requirements that all 2400 of us are held to. Am I offended that I can\u2019t wear a religious tshirt? Nope. Why? Because I accepted the system that I have become a part of, and I\u2019m willing to let it change me and join a long line of men and women who I will be honored to call my brothers and sisters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If The Citadel were a military service academy, there would be little argument. The US government is required to protect religious liberty and accommodate religious expression in the least restrictive manner. While there is no “right” to serve in the US military (contrary to the claims of some activists), one could argue it is a public office to which the government cannot attach undue restrictions.<\/p>\n

But The Citadel is not a state actor, and given that others voluntarily pay money to obtain the very environment this cadet seeks to alter, it’s an interesting situation.<\/p>\n

Repeated at the Stars and Stripes<\/a>.\u00a0 Also at the Christian Science Monitor<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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