EARIST scraps hair length policy

MANILA, Philippines — The administration of Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST) has agreed to scrap a controversial provision in its student handbook denying enrollment to male students, including transgenders, unless they conform to the prescribed hair length and uniform.

In a statement issued yesterday, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairman Prospero de Vera III said the EARIST administration and student leaders under the LGBTQ organization Bahaghari have reached “common ground” in connection with the Manila-based university’s admission policy.

“This afternoon we facilitated a dialogue between the EARIST administration, led by president Rogelio Mamaraldo, and the affected students led by Red Riotoc of the Bahaghari-EARIST body to dialogue and find ways of solving the problem... Both sides found common ground,” De Vera said.

The meeting was held after a video went viral on social media, showing transgender students of EARIST being forced to cut their hair short in order to be allowed to enroll supposedly for the second semester of the current school year.

Questioned provision

Male students are required to observe a “clean and decent haircut” without colorful highlights, while female students are not allowed to have colorful hair highlights, according to a provision from an EARIST memorandum shared to News5.

It stated that males should observe a “barber’s cut” with dimensions of two inches by three inches.

The policy, which has been in place since last year, deprived transwomen admission into EARIST, according to JP Brillantes of Bahaghari-EARIST chapter.

Youth groups and the LGBTQ community said this violates the Manila city government’s existing ordinance prohibiting the discrimination, including in schools, of anyone based on his or her sexual orientation and gender identity expression.

EARIST, in a statement released on Friday, denied the incident in the video, saying that no student was refused enrollment in the second semester of the current school year.

“All students were, and are allowed to enroll for the second semester of school year 2023-2024, regardless of gender and particularly of how they wear/manage their hair, provided that those with long hair have them properly fixed or tied,” the statement signed by Mamaraldo read.

New guidelines

De Vera, however, said that during the meeting, EARIST agreed to halt the implementation of the contentious provisions in its student handbook and come up with new guidelines after consultation with students.

De Vera said EARIST also assured CHED and Bahaghari that all students “would be able to enroll regardless of the length of their hair.”

On the part of CHED, De Vera said his office will organize a workshop among higher education institutions supposedly to share best practices in inclusivity and gender sensitivity so that HEIs “can improve their students’ policies in the future.”