November 13 1995

ARTICLE TOOLS

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The family of an eighth-grade African-American honor student filed a civil-rights suit in Sacramento Superior Court September 14, alleging defamation, invasion of privacy, infliction of emotional distress, and breach of contract against a Christian school that would not allow her son to deliver a junior high-school graduation speech.

Officials at Capital Christian Center School in Sacramento say Ben Sharpe, a straight-A student, could not give the speech because of a lack of respect for rules. His mother, Faye, says a day before the ceremony, principal Sam Spinella informed her that because her son's haircut was "too short," he would not be allowed to deliver the speech. The next day, the parents say, they were told their son could not even attend the ceremony. Eventually, Ben Sharpe, who earlier had received an award as Capital Christian's most outstanding eigth-grader, delivered his address in a public-school ceremony. Capital Christian adopted the "no shaved heads" policy over concerns about "white supremacy." Mark Ambrose, the Sharpes' attorney, says Ben's hair was cut with clippers, not shaved. Ambrose says that, at most, Sharpe should have been given a warning.

Glen Cole, recently retired as senior pastor of Capital Christian, a 3,800-member Assemblies of God church, apologized in public for mishandling the incident. But Ambrose says conversations with school officials have not resolved the family's concerns, so they are proceeding with the court case.