A Philadelphia high school has set social media ablaze after video of a graduation ceremony showed a student being denied her diploma after dancing across the stage, causing many to condemn the strict administration’s so-called traditions.
“[The principal] said, ‘You’re not getting your diploma because you made the crowd chuckle,’” graduating senior Hafsa Abdul-Rahman said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Philadelphia High School for Girls, a 175-year-old institution with a lengthy list of notable alumnae, has strict guidelines and customs its students must follow. According to the school’s handbook, graduating students must wear “an all-white knee length, or longer, dress with a cap sleeve” during the ceremony. Students can also wear a white pantsuit, and white shoes must be closed-toe with no more than a 3-inch heel. Traditionally, the graduates also carry flowers. Any student who violates the graduation guidelines may be kept from participating in the ceremony.
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There are no specific directions regarding graduation behavior in the handbook, but Abdur-Rahman’s grandmother, Renée Hadiyah Reid, told The Daily Beast that students’ families were well-aware that they were not allowed to cheer or clap when students walked across the stage.
“This is their tradition that you can’t say anything,” Reid told The Daily Beast. “They all have to wear white, you have to be very solemn. It was nothing joyous about it. It was like we were at a funeral procession, a very quiet one.”
Philadelphia High School for Girls held its graduation ceremony on June 9. The following day Reid posted a clip on Facebook of her granddaughter walking across the stage.
In the clip, Abdur-Rahman waits patiently for her name to be called by Assistant Principal Walter Myrick, who Reid said told students to let their “personality shine through” because it was a big day for them.
Other students walk across the stage in dresses well-above knee-length. Adbur-Rahman smiles brightly when she hears her name and does a quick Griddy dance—which causes subtle laughter from the audience.
However, once Abdur-Rahman reaches Principal Lisa Mesi, her hand is pushed away from her diploma before Mesi drops it in a basket at the end of the stage.
As of Friday, the Facebook clip received over 230 shares, 220 reactions, and 150 comments.
“That was not right. I cannot believe she didn’t give her her diploma,” someone commented under the post.
“Why can't she be excited???!!!” another Facebook user wrote. “They humiliated her in front of the entire school!”
“I cannot believe this bs!!! Her celebratory expression is no different than those who waved or blew kisses!!!!” someone else wrote. “My heart is hurting for you and my g-niecey right now!”
“That’s insane!!!! And so embarrassing smh. I’m sorry you all had to experience that. Hopefully, she will get her diploma but the sad thing is she’ll never forget this moment,” another Facebook user commented under the post.
Others claimed Mesi abused her power and called for her removal.
By the time the family reached Abdur-Rahman after the ceremony, Reid said her granddaughter was “screaming.”
“Her cries were piercing,” Reid said, adding that her granddaughter felt “humiliated” because graduates’ pictures are taken when they receive their diploma. However, if there’s no diploma, there’s no picture.
“So, my granddaughter… will not be in the yearbook.”
Reid also explained that her granddaughter was looking forward to the celebration because the last several years had been tough for the family.
“Hafsah has endured a lot,” Reid told The Daily Beast.
In 2014, Abdur-Rahman’s 14-year-old sister was killed by a stray bullet while walking home from school, Reid said, adding that others who were close to her granddaughter passed away during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Then, a number of other illnesses overwhelmed the family. Reid said that Abdur-Rahman, her first grandchild, was the only girl in their family to have a high school graduation because everyone else had been homeschooled.
“So, this was a big thing for us,” she said.
However, Abdur-Rahman was not the only student who wasn’t awarded her diploma during the graduation ceremony. According to local outlet Fox 29 Philadelphia, three other graduates were rejected by Mesi.
Saleemah Burch reportedly did not receive her diploma because Mesi told her someone in the crowd clapped for her, even though Burch’s mother vowed that she and her son didn’t make any noise.
@sharibrown951 After waiting to see my baby for so long, they deprived my child of her certificate on stage, without any explanation??? Spoil her entire day
♬ original sound - Shari Brown
“You don’t know what these kids are going through, and Philadelphia is killing young girls at an alarming rate,” Reid said regarding the city’s violence.
Reid claimed the school stole their family’s “moment of joy” and called the principal a coward for having someone else give Abdur-Rahman her diploma after the ceremony.
“Rules are rules. Traditions change,” Reid said. “Traditionally, we were slaves and eating slop. We’re not going with that tradition.”
In a request for comment Friday, Philadelphia Public Schools Communications Officer Christina Clark told The Daily Beast that Philadelphia High School for Girls administration “chose to give a few graduates their diplomas directly after graduation versus on the stage due to the school’s graduation guidelines.”
“The District does not condone the withholding of earned diplomas based on family members cheering for their graduates,” Clark wrote. “We apologize to all the families and graduates who were impacted and are further looking into this matter to avoid it happening in the future.”
Philadelphia High School for Girls did not immediately return The Daily Beast’s requests for comment.
