Michigan student wins right to wear pentagram in high school

By The Associated Press

03.23.99

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	Student and self-proclaimed witch Crystal Seifferly, shown leaving U.S. District Court in Detroit on March 2, has won her fight to overturn a Lincoln Park High School policy banning the wearing of the five-pointed star that is the symbol of her pagan faith.

LINCOLN PARK, Mich. — A student and self-proclaimed witch has won her fight to overturn a Lincoln Park High School policy banning the wearing of the five-pointed star that is the symbol of her faith.

The school reversed the policy yesterday and agreed to pay the legal costs of Crystal Seifferly, the American Civil Liberties Union said.

The ACLU took the Lincoln Park Public Schools to court over the ban. At a March 2 hearing before U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen in Detroit, it said the district's policy violated the honor student's religious rights as a follower of Wicca, the witches' faith.

The suburban district yesterday agreed to make an exception to its anti-gang policy for students who wear the five-pointed pentagram and other symbols as a profession of their religion.

"I'm happy. I'm pleased. I'm glad it's over," Seifferly said. "The longer it went on and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it wasn't about me and just about Wicca. It was about a lot of other people and religions."

Lincoln Park schools Superintendent Randall Kite said the district never intended to interfere with any student's religious freedom. He said the high school had not realized that Wicca was a religion, rather than a gang designation. "This is the right thing to do," he said.

The ACLU praised the district's decision. "We are pleased that Lincoln Park High School recognizes the importance of religious freedom for its students," said ACLU Michigan Executive Director Kary L. Moss. "Ms. Seifferly should be applauded for her courage in standing up for what she believes is right."

In October, Lincoln Park High School banned the wearing of the pentagram along with white power, gang and satanic symbols.

Seifferly filed a lawsuit Feb. 9 seeking to overturn the policy.

Wicca, which sometimes is spelled Wycca, comes from the Old English word for witch. The religions celebrates seasonal and life cycles using rituals from pre-Christian Europe.

Seifferly has practiced Wicca for several years. The ban on the pentagram was contained in an October memo from Lincoln Park High School administrators.

Headlined "GANG/CULT ANNOUNCEMENT," the memo said the policy was part of an effort to enforce the student code of conduct's ban on gangs, drug use, violence and disruptive behavior.

Among the groups listed by the school were the Ku Klux Klan, skinheads, pagans, satanists, cults, street gangs, white supremacists, vampires and witches.

Kite says the anti-gang policy has generally been effective and remains in effect, except for the provisions for witches and pagans.