Brandon Garabrant, New Hampshire senior told by school to cover his Marine dress blue uniform for graduation

A high school senior who sought to wear his U.S. Marine Corps uniform instead of the traditional cap and gown to his high school graduation has been told no.

Brandon Garabrant, age 18, graduated boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina Friday before heading hometo walk in Conval Regional High School’s graduation ceremony Saturday.

Brandon Garabrant

The New Hampshire senior requested special permission to wear his Marine Corps dress blues, but the school’s rule is that all students wear the cap and gown.

Jessie Garabrant, Brandon’s mother, received a letter from the principal that read, “The student council supports all students wearing caps and gowns as a celebration of their ConVal achievements with their ConVal class. We will keep our policy in place,” WMUR News reported.

Mrs. Garabrant disagrees. “Brandon earned this right and he went above and beyond what he needed to do in high school,” she told the news station. “I think covering up with a cap and gown is disgraceful to the uniform.”

According to Brandon’s younger sister who started a petition on this issue, many respondents replied, “Why can’t he wear it? That’s dumb.’ Or they were like, ‘I don’t care what he wears,’” Mykala Garabrant told WMUR.

After graduation, Brandon will attend Marine combat training, then head to school for combat engineering, the report said.

But for his upcoming graduation, “The worse-case scenario, Brandon will wear his cap and gown over the uniform,” Mrs. Garabrant said.