Miss America won’t be headed to the prom, and the Central York High School student who had the guts to ask her in front of his entire school will now be getting three days of suspension for his efforts.
Patrick Farves had been telling friends that he planned to ask Miss America Nina Davuluri when she came to his school for a visit. After word got around school of the Miss America prom invite, administrators warned him that if he went through with the plan he would end up in trouble.
But the 18-year-old senior was undeterred, and when Miss America had a question-and-answer session after her appearance he decided to make his move. Though Patrick wasn’t selected as one of the pre-approved students to ask Nina a question, he crashed the microphone and did it anyway.
Holding a plastic flower, Patrick asked Miss America to be his prom date.
Afterward, Patrick said the warning from administrators actually gave him more resolve to follow through with the plan.
“At that point in time, it was 10 minutes before the presentation, and I was pretty much set to do it,” he said. “I was a little pressured. Everybody expected me to do it.”
And he said, “I’m the kind of person who, if someone says I won’t do something, I’ll prove people wrong. I will.”
But as soon as he got back to his seat, Patrick was yanked away by the principal and given three days of in-school suspension.
“It is not our practice to discipline a student for asking someone – even Miss America – to a school dance,” the school explained in a statement. “However, it is our practice to set expectations for student behavior, to communicate those expectations and rules to students and families and to ensure those rules are followed within our schools. This practice is not uncommon and happens every day, multiple times a day, in schools, businesses and homes across America.
Students at the high school were clearly in favor of the Miss America prom invite. Patrick got a loud cheer at the assembly, and after his suspension was handed down students took to Twitter to protest, using the hashtag #freepatty.
