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DeAndre Arnold may not be attending his high school graduation for refusing to cut his dreadlocks, but thanks to a sweet gift from Ellen DeGeneres, the Texas senior received an investment in his future.
The senior was suspended from Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, about 30 miles from Houston after he refused to chop his locs. “They say that even though my hair is up and I follow all of the regulations, that if it was down, it would be out of dress code,” Arnold told NBC affiliate KPRC. “Not that I’m out of dress code, but if I was to take it down, I would be out of dress code, which doesn’t make any sense. I don’t take it down at school.”
READ MORE: Congress members team up to push The Crown Act which would ban hair discrimination
Ellen reached out to the teen after learning of his story and she welcomed him on The Ellen Show on Wednesday, where she and Alicia Keys presented him with a $20,000 college scholarship.
“You get good grades. You’ve never been in trouble, ever. This is the first time anything has come up. And now you haven’t been in school for weeks because of this situation,” DeGeneres told Arnold.
Arnold told DeGeneres that he always abides by the dress code, and even wears his hair up in school so it won’t be a violation of the length for boys. “Every day I would go to school, I would always be in dress code. But the thing with them is, if it was let down, I would be out of dress code. And this issue really escalated about after Christmas break.”
When Ellen asked Arnold if girls were allowed to have long hair in the school, he responded: “There’s plenty of girls with long hair at my school. If girls can have long hair, why can’t I have long hair?”
DeGeneres appeared shocked when Alicia Keys came out to present him with a huge check for $20,000, to help offset college expenses. She said she hopes he follows his dreams of becoming a veterinarian.
“I’m super proud of you for standing up for what you know is right. I know the school needs to do the right thing. Me and Ellen called our friends at Shutterfly because we know that you’re a special person,” the singer told Arnold. “And we know you’re destined for such greatness and we wanted to support that greatness and invest in that greatness. So we wanted to present you with a check for $20,000.”
And that’s not all.
Arnold has also been invited to this year’s Oscar’s, courtesy of film director, Matthew A. Cherry, who is nominated for an Oscar for his short film, Hair Love.
READ MORE: Animated short ‘Hair Love’ is giving us all the feels
“Since Deandre Arnold’s school didn’t want to let him walk at his graduation because of his hair we figured that he should walk with us on the red carpet at the #Oscars as our special guest. Thank you @itsgabrielleu @DwyaneWade & @Dove for their help,” Cherry tweeted.
Since Deandre Arnold’s school didnt want to let him walk at his graduation because of his hair we figured that he should walk with us on the red carpet at the #Oscars as our special guest. Thank you @itsgabrielleu @DwyaneWade & @Dove for their help. pic.twitter.com/RD8cv0iL8G
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) January 31, 2020
The teen has also received some hair love on social media from Houston Texans wide receiver, DeAndre Hopkins who tweeted “never cut your locks Deandre Arnold.”
Never cut your locks Deandre Arnold.
— Deandre Hopkins (@DeAndreHopkins) January 22, 2020
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