It's graduation season, a time when students celebrate the end of a chapter after years of hard work.
Walking across the stage during commencement and getting your degree is an unforgettable moment. Well, for some students at one college in Philadelphia, their graduation is one that will always be remembered - for an odd reason.
Thomas Jefferson University is getting a lot of attention after Thursday's nursing student graduation ceremony.
A video of a presenter mispronouncing the names of several students has gone viral on TikTok and other social media platforms.
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In the video, you can hear the presenter struggling to say many of the graduate's names. For example, instead of "Molly Elizabeth Camp" the speaker said "Mollina -zabeth- cap" or instead of "Thomas" they said "Tha-mo-may."
In the video, some of the graduates seemed confused, some laughed and others even went as far as to correct the pronunciation of their names.
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A spokesperson from the school sent out a statement apologizing to the students, as well as their families and loved ones, saying in part, "The mispronunciations occurred due to the way phonetic spellings were presented on the speaker’s cards, which was noted when the presenter apologized during the ceremony."
The full statement:
"The leadership and faculty of Thomas Jefferson University extend our sincerest apologies for the mispronunciations of the names of several of our graduating nursing students during our recent commencement ceremony. This ceremony is a celebration of the significant achievements of our students, and each graduate deserves to have their name honored correctly on this pivotal day.
We also recognize that commencement is not only a milestone for our students but also a deeply important day for their families and loved ones who have supported them throughout their educational journey, and we are deeply sorry for any disappointment this may have caused. The mispronunciations occurred due to the way phonetic spellings were presented on the speaker’s cards, which was noted when the presenter apologized during the ceremony. This unfortunate error does not reflect the immense respect we have for our graduates and the value we place on their hard-earned accomplishments."
