Satanist Push Prompts Change In Delco High School Dress Code

MEDIA, PA — The Rose Tree Media School District has amended the student dress code at Penncrest High School after pushback by local Satanists.

According to Joseph Rose, the founder of Satanic Delco which an independent group of Satanists, the district changed the policy after he continuously contacted them upon learning of certain language in the dress code.

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The dress code specifically banned clothing and other items that are "Satanic in nature," Rose learned from a member of Satanic Delco who has a child attending Penncrest.

"As soon as I learned of it, it took me 10 seconds before I dropped everything that I was doing," he told Patch.

One of the seven tenets of Satanism advocates for personal freedom. It reads: "The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo one's own."

He sent several emails to the district, including to Superintendent Eleanor DiMarino-Linnen, including links to his group's website, which lays out the tenets.

"I wasn't making a lot of progress," he said, however he kept trying to get in touch with the district. "I think sending the message I wasn't going to stop made a difference."

Eventually, DiMarino-Linnen responded to Rose.

"I have reviewed the language and agree that it could potentially restrict student expression and exercise of religious rights (although your organization appears to be secular in nature)," she wrote in an email to Rose provided to Patch.

Despite the district getting no concern or complaint over the dress code, the district struck "Satanic in nature" from the code.

Part of the dress code section of the Penncrest student handbook now reads as such:

Students should not dress in a manner that advocates illegal or anti-social behavior.
Examples of prohibited items include, but are not limited to clothing, patches, buttons, pins, jewelry, and backpacks that:

● Have sexually suggestive writing/pictures
● Advocate violence
● Advertise or promote the use of tobacco, alcohol, drugs
● Have double meaning wording or obscene language/gestures
● Are disrespectful

Rose said he fully supports the district maintaining a ban on items that feature violence, sexually suggestive topics, substance use, and obscenities in a high school environment.

Before DiMarino-Linnen responded to Rose, he thought about attempting to organize a student-led protest during which students would wear clothing that was "Satanic in nature."

Patch reached out to DiMarino-Linnen and Assistant Superintendent William Dougherty for comment on the change but did not receive a response.

Rose said he has been trying to reach the Garnet Valley School District about its dress code and the inclusion of "satanic/cult reference" in prohibited items.