BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts pharmacy college instituted a ban on clothing that obscures the face, including face veils and burqas, weeks after a Muslim alumnus who is also the son of a professor was charged with plotting terror strikes.
The policy change at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Services, announced in a campus-wide e-mail last month, went into effect Friday.Michael Ratty, a college spokesman, said the policy was developed in the fall during the school's annual review of its public safety procedures and was unrelated to the arrest of 2008 graduate Tarek Mehanna.
"It is not directed to any group or individual. It applies to all students and faculty," Ratty said.
Ratty said the school believed everyone entering the small Boston campus should be able to be properly identified. He said the college discussed the policy with Muslim students and officials at the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission, and all understood the need for the change.
The policy bans only those head coverings that entirely conceal the face, which could also apply to winter clothing such as scarves or ski masks, Ratty said. The college has about 4,300 students, including 3,300 at its Boston campus. The school remains closed for winter break this week.
Jonathan Kassa, executive director of Security on Campus, a nonprofit that advocates for safer college campuses, said his group had not heard of similar policies at any other U.S. college.