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In New Orleans Saints country, kid in Colts jersey is sent home from school
Brandon Frost was bedecked in his favorite NFL player’s jersey Friday as he stepped into his first-period English class at Maurepas High School in Livingston Parish.
But before the 17-year-old senior could even take a seat among his similarly attired classmates, the school’s principal swept in, called Frost into the hallway and told him to change his shirt or hit the road. Frost chose the latter.
The problem? While all his classmates were wearing black and gold to support the New Orleans Saints as they prepare for the Super Bowl, Frost was wearing the enemy blue of the Indianapolis Colts.
For the student, his family and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Principal Steve Vampran’s decision to send Frost packing is a fundamental question of fairness: On a day when students were allowed to trade their normal school uniforms for Saints garb, why couldn’t Frost show support for his preferred team?
“If they can wear their jerseys I should be able to wear mine,” he said.
Frost, who lived in Indiana before moving to Maurepas three years ago, described his encounter with the principal as brief.
“He said, ‘I don’t recall telling you that you could wear a Colts jersey,” Frost said. Frost said he tried to protest and pointed out he was just showing support for a team in the same manner at his classmates.
But, according to Frost, Vampran replied: “If you like Indiana so much, why don’t you go back?”
Vampran could not be reached for comment. But Livingston Parish School Board member Keith Martin, who represents the Maurepas schools, said he feels both parties were somewhat in the wrong. Frost shouldn’t have disobeyed Vampran’s order that students could wear only their school uniforms or Saints attire, and the principal shouldn’t have overreacted to the student’s infraction.
Martin said he spoke with Vampran on Friday and the principal was planning to bring Frost, described as a good student, to his office Monday so they could apologize to each other.
Frost said a teacher who had overheard him talking about his planned attire earlier in the week had warned him the principal wouldn’t allow it, but he decided to wear the jersey anyway. Frost’s father, Larry Frost, said he had been supportive of his son.
“I said, ‘Go ahead and wear it and if it becomes too big a problem, come home,’ “ he said.
It seems the blue-and-white No. 29 jersey got far more of a reaction from the administration than from Frost’s fellow students, who he said needled him a bit but were generally good-natured about his loyalties.
Frost said he was particularly surprised at the reception his attire received because his jersey bears the name of Colts player Joseph Addai, who was a running back for LSU in 2003 when the team won its first national championship since 1958 by beating the University of Oklahoma.
“He’s my favorite player, but I hoped it would ease it slightly,” Frost said.
Frost’s situation caught the attention of the ACLU on Friday afternoon and Majorie Esman, the executive director of the organization’s Louisiana chapter, sent a letter to Vampran opposing his actions.
“The law is clear that students do not shed their rights to freedom of speech at the schoolhouse gates. Whether or not you approve of a student supporting the Indianapolis Colts, if a school opens itself up for students to wear shirts in support of one team, it must recognize the right of other students to support the opposing team,” Esman wrote.
Esman called for the school to wipe the incident from Frost’s record and reassure him and his family that he will not face further repercussions because he chose to support the Colts.
