High school graduate denied diploma for dancing on stage crowd reaction - WLOX

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) – A high schooler said she cried tears of humiliation instead of joy at her graduation.

“She stole that moment from me,” Hafsah Abdur-Rahman said. “I will never get that again.”

The 17-year-old says the principal for The Philadelphia High School for Girls warned students that their families could not cheer or clap when they walk on stage June 9. She said she understood the rules.

“I’m like, ‘Do not say nothing, because I want my diploma,’” she said.

In a video of the ceremony, Abdur-Rahman dances across the stage, and the response can be heard from the crowd.

She says because they laughed, the principal told her she could not receive her diploma.

“If they thought that I shouldn’t do the Griddy across the stage and the Girl’s High traditions, nobody should have been able to wave or blow kisses or do period signs, because I feel like that’s the same thing,” she said. “So, I just thought it was really unfair.”

Abdur-Rahman says she’s not alone. Three other girls did not get their diplomas on stage, but all of them did after the ceremony.

The School District of Philadelphia said in a statement it does not condone the withholding of earned diplomas based on family members cheering for their graduates.

“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,” the district said in a statement.

Although Abdur-Rahman wishes she had a better experience, she and her mother, Jaszmine Reid, hoped school leaders learned a valuable lesson.

“It’s 2023, a lot has happened,” Reid said. “These girls went through COVID together. I understand traditions and the rules are set and in place for a reason, and we’re not saying that they should be broken, but it might need to be revised also.”

Copyright 2023 WPVI via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.

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High school graduate denied diploma for dancing on stage, crowd reaction - WLOX
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