“Gifties” take 1st amendment case to federal court
Students’ lawsuit over T-shirt gains ground
A group of eighth-grade students at Beaubien Elementary School maintained that it was their right to wear T-shirts emblazoned with the word “Gifties”, their self determined nickname. Although they are high schoolers now they never gave up the fight and are about to have their day in court.
The issue centers on a 2003 vote for a class shirt at the school, 5025 N. Laramie. Students believed one concept won: The name “Gifties” written on the back and a caricature of a boy walking a dog on the front. But school administrators didn’t like the design and kept the election results secret, telling students to take another vote, according to the federal complaint.
The students, who were in the gifted program, challenged the election and asked the school to disclose the results. Students and parents said they didn’t get anywhere, so students decided to wear the “Gifties” design they believed won.
Though students were asked not to wear the design to school, they wore the shirts anyway in protest.
Principal Chris N. Kotis met their protest with swift retaliation. They were told that anybody wearing the t-shirt would be suspended for five to seven days. Students report that they were prevented from going to the bathroom unless they removed the t-shirts. They were restricted from parts of the campus and were forced to write essays about whether they were worthy to use the school’s computer lab. They were threatened with punishment if they signed a petition about the t-shirts.
They’re suing for damages and asking the school to expunge records of any disciplinary action against them for the 2003 episode.
…
The students are asking the school to release their records to review whether the episode tarnished their records in any way.[Student attorney Irene] Dymkar said an administrator would tally each morning which students wore the shirts.
“Is that on their records? Will it affect their college applications?” Dymkar said.
Chicago school officials would only say that the lawsuit was at one time dismissed before it was reinstated.
“Freedom of expression is not just about fighting for big issues but defending small issues, too.” said Michael Brandt, now 16. “That’s what we did.”
It should be noted that Chris Kotis is still the principal of the school.
(Tip credit to Precinct 333)
If I were on a college admissions board and I read about a student’s involvement in an incident of this nature, it would sway my opinion as to whether the student should be admitted to my college - by improving their standing.
Perhaps that’s one reason I will likely never be on a college admissions board, with all apologies to schools like Hillsdale College, which I believe would be an exception to the general rule.
Not being a “giftie,” I don’t get the boy walking his dog… what does it mean?… aha, this is some double entrendre that the school administration must control! The whole bladder torture thing is a new one… keep them from using the bathrooms until they crack? Wow. The City of Chicago school board policies indicate that a school, or, as they define things, an “attendance center,” can establish a dress code. Do we know what the dress code is here? Are the students violating an established code? (I tend to think not…)
This just seem like a bunch of arrogant kids having a temper tantrum… ooh they’re supposedly better than the rest of the students and feel a need to lord it over the rest of them… they should be wearing shirts with jackasses on them instead.
Haha! Reminds me of my senior year in high school. Classes had “themes”. The class before mine, 2003, had Sovereignty. So we decided we wanted to be Senior Revolution. Well, the principal decided it was too violent. So we said fine, we’ll be Senior Soul. He shot that down too, claiming it was racist. Finally they approved two choices that we could vote on:
Senior Summit
and
Senior Celebrities
Yeah…we got stuck with two unbelievably lame choices. Majority of us boycotted the vote, and we were stuck with Senior Celebrity. Most of us wouldn’t wear the shirts. And one senior protested by attending the senior car parade wearing a kilt, a white shirt with the words “Senior Soul” on it, a red tie, and wearing blue paint on his face like in Braveheart. It was awesome. They didn’t do anything to him b/c he is the class genius. Perfect score on his SATs and he worked for NASA even while he was in high school. (Luckily he was my lab partner in honors Chemistry. I passed that semster, baby!)
Administrators are seriously idiots. No, really. It is sad that idiots run our childrens’ lives.
As a graduate of Beaubien’s gifted class of 2003,it is discouraging to see that the insults have not stopped regarding this issue. If anything, we should be seen as people who were brave enough to take a stand against injustices. Many say that we are simply brats who cannot accept a “no” here and there, but what Mr. Kotis did was wrong. He acted as though we were menaces to society, while in reality we were just proud of being “gifties”. THe word was thrown around all over that school as an insult, but we took pride in who we were. WE weren’t the cool kid or the ghetto kids, we were the smart kids. And in a Chicago Public School, that is not an easy thing ot be proud of. and to add, “Gifties” was never “self-determined”. It was a nickname meant to taunt us, given by the other students in the school
Thanks, Jessica, but, just wondering, what’s with the boy walking the dog?
see thats the interesting part. it was just a drawing to make the shirt funny. ironically, it became a serious issue. the administrators blew the whole thing way out of proportion, so hopefully they’re paying for it now.
The gifted have the right to solidarity, just like any other group.
Jessica,
The contest was not one for the gifted students to come up with a gifted t-shirt design in order to feel better about perceived taunting by non-gifted students. No. The directions in fact, were to submit a design that would represent the Beaubien 8th grade class a whole.
It stands to reason therefore, that a t-shirt bearing the name ‘giftie’ on the back represents less than half of the class. I hope that fact doesn’t foster your weird martyrous-minority whining even further.
Instead I would hope that this 4-year quest has demonstrated that you and all of your gifted classmates are part of a larger group called “Life.” It is your job to find your own way through it - life that is.
You should not need a special t-shirt, a constant pat-on-the-head, somebody-feeling-sorry-for-you-for-being-smart-and-misunderstood, or a gold star on your gifted chart at the top of every hour.
If you need an intro on dealing with this thing called life, I suggest volunteering at your local V.A. Go and see how other young people are dealing with their recent amputations and injuries. They mostly signed-up in order to pay for college and came home in an imperfect state. Go entertain them with your t-shirt civil rights story. Tell them how unfair Mr. Kotis was.
But who am I kidding? Wouldn’t going to a V.A. hospital be “beneath†you, as a gifted student and-all?
In that case, I suggest that you attend a support group. I know a good one called “I have problems.” They meet at the bar, where you can wear any t-shirt you like.
Erin, I am suprised that you were able to use the Veterans AGAINST Jessica. I thought our armed forces fought, suffered and died for the right of all Americans to pursue happiness within out laws.
Jessica is not on trial here. Mr Kotis is. He acted in a way not proscribed by CPS policy. He was and still is dictatorial. My son is in that school, and we are trying to figure how to get him out as soon as possible.
Jessica, it isn’t any better now and that is the shame of the legal system–it’s molasses quality. I haven’t seen any conclusion of your case in the news, but would love to hear how it comes out. The park across the street is still not within Kotis’s power, so feel free to post the verdict there.
Revolution and change come from dissent.
Stagnation breeds decay.
Thanks for standing up to him.
By the way, I think the dress code now includes a clause about “t-shirts with offensive logos.” I find this way too subjective, but totally fitting with Kotis’s style of dictatorship.
It is natural for children to do things and not understand the consequences of their actions.
however, desiging a “giftie” T-shirt for the whole class and then suing over the results, and basing the lawsuit in part on wanting to have consequences removed, shows a tendency towards playing the victim.
unjustly. in my opinion.
when everyone is a victim, then no one is a victim. these kids are making themselves victims by doing something that is IMO obnoxious and then pursuing an absurd court case for years.
and then they want no consequences.
personally, I agree with the poster above who said that they would be *more* favorably disposed towards such an applicant, if evaluating him or her in a college admissions process.
but for me, only if that applicant respected that actions have consequences and pursuing a lawsuit like this for so many years also has consequences.
I would be more favorably disposed towards this applicant b/c to me, designing this T-shirt shows a willingness to think for oneself. personally I believe the message conveyed was arrogant but the kids were young. young kids are not usually known for “civilized” expression.
pursuing this lawsuit changes my mind. to me the stated basis indicates a claim of victimhood. “I want to speak out and sue, yet I do not want to accept the consequences, namely, perhaps a lower chance of getting into my ideal school.”
when everyone is a victim, then no one is a victim. there are enough *real* victims in this country to profitably occupy one’s efforts without the need to pursue specious lawsuits like this.
now, if the students had been expelled, if they had suffered real consequences, I would think differently.
but I don’t respect this lawsuit, at all.
I should add though -
the kids being so young during all this.
I think any blame or criticism really should be directed towards the parents, and not the kids themselves.