Beth Jacob’s Rabbi Steven Weil said in his shabbos morning sermon that last Shabbat mincha, the gabbai asked a kollel (yeshiva for married men) student with a black hat to remove his black hat before getting an aliyah (call to the Torah).
There’s no rule at Beth Jacob requiring this. The student was surprised. He took off his black hat to show off a kipah seruga (knitted kipa, a sign of Modern Orthodoxy, as opposed to typical black hat traditional Orthodoxy), which surprised the gabbai.
Rabbi Weil used this as an example to warn us against judging people too quickly.
Today you can wear a black hat and know how to use a Palm Pilot and be wearing a kipah serugah.
