Like Mitt Romney, I attended Cranbrook, the elite Detroit-area private school. Unlike the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, I was not the rigidly straight son of a sitting Republican Governor, but a scholarship student, a political radical, and a burgeoning homosexual. But like John Lauber””the highly-publicized object of Mitt Romney”s teenage scorn, and the victim of violent assault led by Romney during the end of his high school years””I wore, as a proud symbol of my outsider status, a distinctly non-normative hairstyle. Or, rather, a constantly evolving series of outrĆ© dos that conformed to no known style, save my incompetence with the clippers and my desire to provoke.
Long and unkempt on top, cropped to the skull around the sides, occasionally with some or another slogan or symbol shaved into the back, my hair drew attention. The mother of a close friend described it as “appearing as though it wants to spin off your head.”¯ Fellow students described it as “gay,”¯ sometimes derisively, sometimes in packs, while pointing. A favorite English teacher pulled me aside one day and gave me some advice””impossible for any teenager, whose developmental goal is the externalization of that which can”t yet be internalized. “Brett,”¯ he said. “Don”t let your body be a pedestal for your haircut.”¯ (It should be noted that there was a barber on campus. I never visited, but I walked by his basement shop more often than could be ascribed to coincidence.)
Cranbrook nurtured me at a time when my home life was imploding. My parents had divorced just before I started high school there. My mother worked far more than full- time, and being only in her mid-30s, dated quite a bit as well. My father remarried a Born Again Christian woman who insisted he renounce his previous family, and he complied. Though I was a day student, and didn”t live in the dorms, my school, and my friends and teachers””the whole insular world of that beautiful, self-contained campus””became my home and my family. With its focus on both the arts and the liberal aspects of its liberal arts heritage””the school also hosts on its grounds a renowned graduate school of art””Cranbrook introduced me to the transformative power of sculpture, ceramics, and especially writing. (I never would have become a writer, or even thought it possible as a vocation, without Cranbrook.) It also helped guide me toward a lifelong connection to issues of social justice. It was with a Cranbrook teacher that I joined my first protest group, attended my first activist meetings.
I”m planning on attending my 25th high school reunion at Cranbrook this June””the first of any such official gathering I”ve intended to join. At that event, esteemed alumni will receive awards for their accomplishments; from what I”ve read, one of my classmates helped found Groupon, and will be delivering a keynote and receiving a plaque. Mitt Romney was granted this honor in 2005, at his 40th class reunion. I have not seen or read any statement from Cranbrook on the recent revelations regarding Mitt”s reprehensible behavior when he was a student there, but I trust that the institution that I love, and that so shaped my identity””and continues to do so for an incredibly diverse range of students””will have something wise to say.
(Click the photo above to expand. Note: that is not a shadow, that is my actual hair.)
Needless to say, I would have been your best friend and we would have been inseparable.
I think your hair back then was very Cure/Flock of Seagulls–in other words, perfectly wonderful.
I remember that hair, Brett. I didn’t really know you, but while I remember thinking it was wierd thing to do, I admired the cojones that it took to do it (I was fairly repressed at the time). Today I am proud to wear long (graying) hair that Mitt Romney would want to cut. My 4 year old son wears his long, too. BTW, Cranbrook supported me through the minor hell of an alcoholic mother.
you look fabulous
The man here speaks truth.
I just figured it out. That hair kept you balanced on the roof. Those were great days.
Max
I love you, Jean Jennings!
Right on, Ray. Nice to hear from you. Glad we both survived high school.
Aw. Thanks, Pat.
Max: I’m glad we can look on that time in such a positive way. Thanks for being so giving.
Thanks, Jay. Nice to hear from you.
Gay?? Okay, I guess. I remember your hair then but thinking of it as, well, simply very “eighties,”ā€“of the moment. Which in the wealthy suburbs in ’86 had a touch of the androgynous, for sure. But I wasn’t linking boys hair to sexual orientation, maybe because at that time I was wishing I could wear my hair “seventies” but my parents wouldn’t let me. Thank you for the testimony. Being at Cranbrook at that time in my life opened up liberatory paths for me, too.
I didn’t attend Cranbrook, but during that time you would have been there, I used to like to go there and take black and white photos around campus. By any chance was yours the car that had a spray painted Batman symbol on it?
There is nothing wrong with being yourself.. Exspession it’s what makes us show how we feel.. And no one should be able to take that away.. I love human art the beauty in life.. And that is being who u r and not what someone thinks you should be.. I’m a black female what would he had done to me I wonder?
I’m so glad I wasn’t the only one with crazy hair in high school!
Love the do. I had a bleached-in-the-front white version of this. How lovely if every one had your strength, and bad-ass-deal-with-me self-worth.
always thought your hair was cool Brett. it doesn’t even look tragic compared to other peoples high school hair. glad you made it through.
Class of ’79 here! No surprise that mention of our beloved alma mater came up this election cycle. We all know that the syndrome of bullying is unfortunately timeless and not limited to CK. That said, I was most disappointed by mention of faculty(not named)in the 60’s who also spouted disparaging (regarding gender/orientation issues)remarks to their students…I can’t say I ever heard ONE remark made in this vein toward myself or another student. This is only MY experience but I was part of Cranbrook community for 10 yrs from ’69-’79. I have nothing but the highest regard for the faculty that in essence, raised me, coming from a majorly dysfunctional home in the ‘burbs…on the other hand there WAS institutional homophobia as I was in essence”kicked out” the summer between my jr and sr yrs with the promise of re-enrolling seamlessly IF I underwent “counseling”! I don’t know how many were aware of the truth about that summer but the school played it off to drug related infractions to hide the sexuality related indiscretion(s)Fortunately I had a wonderfully fair minded therapist who told me on day 1, “I am not here to change you, the goal will be to get you back into school to graduate..” William Rowell-you were a gift! It has been many yrs since I forgave the institution for their lack of knowledge and leadership on the issues of gender identity and sexual orientation. I graduated. Went to U-M and have had a happy, learned and successful life thus far. I give Cranbrook much credit. I know it, too, has grown.
I remember the hair, I remember being somewhat envious at the time. I have similar fondness for the mind-expanding aesthetic influence and the job they did teaching me to write. Painful at the time for sure, but I’m happy about it now. Nicely expressed, thanks for sharing.