This past Monday, Edina High School sophomore Uma Kumar-Montei was dress coded by the school administration because her dress was deemed inappropriate. The dress in question revealed her shoulders and a bra strap.

“I found out I was dressed inappropriately when my Spanish teacher pointed out that you could see my shoulder and bra strap,” said Kumar-Montei. “I argued with her for a little while, and then she sent me to the office, where my counselor also deemed my outfit inappropriate, as well as the vice principal.”

Kumar-Montei also had to miss almost two classes because of the incident. “I got pulled out of Spanish class and sent to the office, causing me to miss the entirety of Spanish and a good amount of English,” she said.

According the official Edina High School Handbook, “Dress, grooming, and personal adornment are forms of self-expression.” The handbook clarifies that students must follow guidelines that include that outfits are not “disruptive of the educational process”, “not a violation of any statute”, and “does not constitute a threat to the safety of others”.

The incident was followed a firestorm of protest on social media, where many students came to Kumar-Montei’s defense.

These students included senior Sia Tortorelis who tweeted, “If the administration thinks that Uma’s cute (and rather wholesome by many standards) dress was disruptive, then they are the problem. Were her collar bones or shoulders too sexual? If yes, then congrats, you just sexualized a 15-year-olds shoulders.”

Tweets regarding the incident received over 500 combined favorites and retweets.

“When you pull me out of class to change, you are telling me that hiding my body is more important than my education,” Kumar-Montei tweeted after being cited for her dress.

On Wednesday, a group of female students banded together to show their support for Kumar-Montei by wearing outfits that revealed their shoulders at school.

“At first, [the support] was overwhelming, but I’m so proud that other people see this as an issue worth standing up for!” said Kumar-Montei.