"Around these parts, the bola tie is high chic. In a Maryland school district, the single-strand leather tie with a metal clasp, often adorned by a polished stone, is disruptive clothing.

Oh, those know-it-all Easterners. They're hilarious.

But it wasn't funny for a Maryland high school student in suburban Washington, D.C., when school officials denied him his diploma - which he earned - because he wore his bola tie during the graduation ceremony. Oh, by the way, the 17-year-old student, Thomas Benya, wore his black bola tie underneath his purple gown.

Around these parts, that's called official stupidity. It's also a big-time insult to Arizona, where the stylish tie was born."

Get the Story:
Ernesto Portillo Jr.: Md. high school tied in a knot over Arizona's beloved bola (The Arizona Daily Star 6/16)

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Campbell calls school 'uptight' in bolo-diploma flap (6/13)
Native student denied diploma after wearing bolo tie (6/10)