Utah High School Student Denied Entry to Couples-Only Dance
The Valentine's Day dance was apparently for "couples only."
— -- A high school senior in Utah was turned away at her school's Valentine's Day "Sweethearts Dance" because it was for couples only, and she was the odd one out among a group of three friends who wanted to go together, one of the friends said.
The three Bountiful High School students, Josee Stetich, Mikayla Robertson and Shivani Lindmeir, spent this past Valentine's Day together getting ready to go to the dance as friends after not getting asked out by anyone, Robertson told ABC News today.
"We got our hair done, put on nice gowns and Josee even bought new shoes," Robertson said. "We wanted to look our best and [be] dressed and ready as though we would have had a date."
At the dance, though, school administrators told Lindmeir and Robertson, who bought a ticket together, that they could attend the dance as a couple, according to Robertson, but that Stetich could not get in solo.
"They told us Josee needed a date, be it a guy or another friend," Robertson said. "They said the 'Sweethearts Dance' was different from other school dances called stomps because it was couples-only."
Stetich was even willing to pay $30 at the door for a ticket that would have allowed two people in, Robertson said.
"They refunded Shivani's and my ticket, and they lost around $50 because they wouldn't let us three in," Robertson said. "I thought it was ridiculous. It's silly that you can't come by yourself if you're not asked to a dance."
Bountiful High School apparently was not in session Monday and ABC News' calls to the school's offices were not immediately returned. Additional efforts to reach Principal Greg Wilkey, Assistant Principal Sue Baylis and the district's superintendent outside their offices were unsuccessful.
However, Wilkey told a local television station, KUTV, that Baylis told him the teens left "voluntarily" after receiving a refund.
“It was a very nice and uneventful dance last night," Wilkey reportedly said Sunday in a statement given to KUTV via Davis School District spokesman Chris Williams. "Sue said none of the girls were upset or protested. They knew it was couples only, but they were hoping for a 'pass.' When they asked for a refund and left, Sue assumed they were good to go. Again, no protests from any students or parents."
Shivani and Stetich gave KUTV accounts similar to Robertson's. However, Lindmeir's father, David Lindmeir, told ABC News his daughter wasn't available for comment, adding that he and Stetich's mom, Susan Stetich, first wanted to give "both the girls and the administration an opportunity to come to terms before things get to the point where it would be impossible for this to happen."
The three friends ended up going to Hatch Family Chocolates in Salt Lake City, where the owner gave them a tour of the chocolate factory downstairs, Robertson said.
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