(NEXSTAR) – A high school graduate in Philadelphia is speaking out after she was denied her diploma, allegedly because she briefly danced across the stage — and elicited giggles from the crowd — during the commencement ceremony.
Hafsah Abdul-Rahman, part of the Philadelphia High School for Girls’ 2023 senior class, could be seen in a now-viral video preparing for her name to be called at last Friday’s graduation ceremony. When it was, she made away across the stage toward the school’s principal, momentarily breaking into dance on her way over.
Once at the other side of the stage, the school’s principal, identified as Lisa Mesi, withheld the diploma and directed Abdul-Rahman to sit down.
“I was humiliated,” Abdul-Rahman told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Inquirer reported that school officials had previously told students to inform their families that there would be no cheering or applause for individual students when their names were called. Abdul-Rahman, however, told the outlet that an assistant principal, just before the ceremony, told the girls they could walk with style if they wanted.
But after she briefly danced over to the principal when her name was called, Abdul-Rahman said Mesi told her she “made the crowd chuckle” and therefore wouldn’t be presented with her diploma.
Abdul-Rahman's grandmother, who first shared a video of the incident on Instagram, acknowledged that the graduates and attendees were told not to make any noise.
"Everyone respected that," she wrote. "But if [they] didn’t how can you punish these young girls for something in the audience did??"
In a retweeted video of the ceremony that went viral on Twitter, many viewers were outraged by the principal’s behavior.
“Appalling that she was not given her diploma,” one wrote. “Outrageous behavior from the school.”
“I can't even make sense of this, she's excited and she should be,” another commented. “She did nothing wrong. I don't understand this world today.”
Others, meanwhile, fully supported the school, claiming the student “knew the rules” and flaunted them anyway.
“Lots of schools do this, and have done it for years!” one viewer wrote. “You have a short time to do the ceremony, and if there was a celebration after each child, you would be there all day. You can’t read the next name if there is [noise]. We have to stop making excuses for our kids.”
Abdul-Rahman wasn’t the only student whose diploma was withheld during the June 9 ceremony. Videos shared on social media alleging to show at least two other teenagers who were denied diplomas after one briefly pointed an index finger in the air, and another waved at attendees.
The School District of Philadelphia, to which Girls’ High belongs, has since expressed its disapproval of the school administration’s actions.
“The District does not condone the withholding of earned diplomas based on family members cheering for their graduates,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement shared with McClatchy News. “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.”
A representative for the Philadelphia High School for Girls was not immediately available to provide additional comment for Nexstar.
Abdul-Rahman and the other girls ultimately received their diplomas after the ceremony, according to the school district spokesperson. But for her, it just wasn’t the same.
“You only get one moment like that,” she told the Inquirer, “and it was taken away from me.”
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