*Update* - Wade Buck (Student Personnel Supervisor) and Jason Lareau (Student Personnel Supervisor) were granted a meeting on behalf of the student employees at NMU Dining Services to discuss this policy. After that meeting and later in the day we have been notified that the facial piercings and dreadlock policy has been overturned. The only facilities not allowed to have facial piercings is Starbucks and Temaki/Smoothie King because of corporate policies.

Thank you for all your help and support everyone.

This petition is to overturn and eliminate the unfair and discriminatory facial piercing and dreadlocks policy being put into effect by NMU's Dining Services Director Greg Minner.

Taking affect on August 1st, 2011 Northern Michigan Universities (NMU) Dining Services Department's Director, Greg Minner is putting into affect a NO facial piercing policy AND a NO dreadlocks policy to affect all student employees working for Dining Services.

Several of Dining Services employees have facial piercings and currently only ONE has dreadlocks.

**UPDATE**The one individual who had dreadlocks no longer has them as they need this job and could not take the chance of being fired over the new policy come August 1st.

Many of these employees have been with Dining Services for many years and some are Supervisors and Personnel Supervisors in these facilities. A lot of these employees have given their time and lots of effort to this University and the Dining Services department for many years. Discriminating based on their appearance is unfair. The piercings and or dreadlocks do not affect their work nor do they break any Health Code Violation.

Most of NMU's Dining Service facilities are used by the students of the University. The fact that employees have these piercings in no way hinders the profitability of the facilities by driving away customers/students because the employees have "facial piercings/dreadlocks".

No complaint of any facial piercings being found in food, on plates, or anything else being served to the student body have ever been reported to any of the Student Personnel Supervisors who are in charge of day-to-day oversight of all student employees.

We would like this policy to be overturned and taken out as it has never been an issue in the past with other Directors and there has never been a reasonable reason "why" this new policy is being started other than "This is what the Director wants". That is not a good enough reason to affect a big portion of student employees.

This is a college campus and is very diverse in its demographic and limiting students to gain potential knowledge, experience, and learning for the future is unfair. No other department on NMU's campus has this policy why MUST this one?

Northern Michigan University is a public university and the opinions and thoughts of all its employees and student employees should be heard and taken into account. This is not a private business or institution to where "one" person should be able to set rules based solely on their beliefs and not take into consideration the entire department.

This petition will be presented to Director Greg Minner and the Dean of Students Office on a date TBD.

*Updated on 7/16/2011*