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Title: Graduating senior refused to read speech written by administrators, so they withheld his diploma
Source:
The Albuquerque Journal
URL Source: https://www.abqjournal.com/1018213/ ... they-withheld-his-diploma.html
Published: Jun 21, 2017
Author: Samantha Schmidt
Post Date: 2017-06-21 08:40:45 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 7420
Comments: 51
Marvin Wright, president of his high school senior class, spent two weeks working on his graduation speech, staying up till 5 on the morning of the event to finish. But later that day, the principal of Southwest Edgecombe High in Pinetops, North Carolina, told him he would be giving a different address, a five-sentence paragraph prepared by the school administrators. He gave him no explanation. “I felt robbed of a chance to say my own words,” Marvin, 18, told The Washington Post. His mother, classmates and teachers urged him to give his speech anyway. When he stepped onto the stage at the end of the commencement ceremony Friday, he opened up a folder under the podium containing the school’s prepared remarks: — I would like to thank all of our friends and family for being here tonight. I would also like to address my fellow graduates one last time before we leave this gym. Although we may all never be in the same room at the same time again, we will always share the memories that we created within these walls. And no matter what we all do after graduation, never forget that this is one place that we all have in common, this place is home. Congratulations graduates, we did it! — But instead of delivering those words, he took out his cellphone and read a copy of his original speech, with his friends in the audience nodding to him in encouragement. Sitting behind Marvin, the principal, Craig Harris, immediately turned to another staff member, whispering with a look of disapproval, video footage shows. After the applause and final procession, all of the students lined up to receive their official diplomas. But one folder in the stack was missing: Marvin’s. His senior adviser informed him the principal had removed the diploma because Marvin had read the wrong speech. “All my friends were outside with their big yellow folders taking pictures and I was still inside, trying to get my diploma,” Marvin said. “I was really hurt and embarrassed, basically humiliated.” The teenager and his mother, Jokita Wright, accused the school of not only censoring a student’s words but then retaliating against him by withholding his diploma. The mother complained to the principal, who explained to her that her son had missed a deadline to submit the speech to the school. Marvin says he never knew about it. Marvin did not receive his diploma for another two days, when the principal dropped it off at his home at the request of the superintendent. The principal handed him the diploma, saying only, “If your mom has any questions just give me a call.” Then he left. Edgecombe County Schools Superintendent John Farrelly called Marvin on Monday to apologize for the way the school handled the situation on commencement day. “I have communicated with the family to apologize on behalf of the school,” Farrelly said in a statement to the Wilson Times. “The diploma never should have been taken from the student.” Farrelly said he did not have any problems with the content of the teenager’s speech but was concerned about Marvin’s use of a cellphone and the decision to change course at the last minute. “There is an expectation that is communicated to all graduation speakers that the prepared and practiced speech is the speech to be delivered during the ceremony,” Farrelly said. “That was made extremely clear to the speakers. The student did not follow those expectations.” In the fall, when Marvin was elected senior class president, his adviser informed him he would have to write a graduation speech. He says he wasn’t given any guidance, so he sought out tips from the previous year’s senior class president, and listened to numerous commencement speeches online for ideas. His English teacher told him she approved of the speech. Marvin even left a copy of the remarks on his principal’s desk for review on commencement day. Still, administrators insisted he should read the address they prepared. But Marvin gave the speech he wanted to give, recounting memories he shared with his classmates through elementary, middle and high school. Though he stumbled a few times – distracted by the conversations taking place behind him and struggling to read from his phone – Marvin’s speech was welcomed with cheers and laughs from the audience. In his approximately five-minute address, he thanked God, the family members of the graduates, the school’s faculty and his mom – who was watching in the bleachers in tears. “This is it,” Marvin said. “We have finally made it.” He talked about playing at recess in elementary school, dealing with the “transition period” of middle school, when “things didn’t work out in our favor.” Finally, he talked about his senior year. “Everything seemed different,” he said. “Teachers became mentors, friends became family, and Southwest Edgecombe High became home.” “I am no expert in this journey we call life, but we all have the ability to make a difference and to be that change the world needs,” he continued. “The past 13 years have equipped us for a time as this to stand bold in who we are. So I say to my classmates, cherish these last few minutes we spend here and the memories we have created and get ready for the journey ahead.” Marvin was his mother’s last child to graduate high school. His relatives drove to watch him speak and receive his diploma. While she’s glad he gave an address in his own words, Jokita Wright wished her son could have left the school that day with the diploma he rightfully earned, she said. “He can’t get that day back,” his mother said. “That was a special moment for me, it was a special moment for him.” Luckily, Marvin received the diploma just in time for the day he needed it most. On Monday, he officially committed to entering the U.S. Navy, after which he hopes to study pediatric surgery. The high school graduate will report for duty on Oct. 10. — God is continuing to bless me. Posted by Marvin Wright on Monday, June 12, 2017 — Video: On June 9, North Carolina high school senior Marvin Wright had his diploma withheld after he refused to read a speech written by his school’s administrators. The class president eventually received an apology from the superintendent.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 36.
#2. To: Deckard (#0)
Yeah. That's when he wrote it. That morning. "his adviser informed him he would have to write a graduation speech." The article gives the impression that he was supposed to read the prepared speech, NOT his own. Yet his advisor told him to write a speech? OK. Here's how I see it. He was told to write a speech and give a copy to the school beforehand so they could approve it. He puts it off to the last minute and misses the submittal deadline. So the school gives him a prepared speech to read instead.
Apparently you missed the above sentence in the article. 1. He got approval of the speech.
The mother complained to the principal, who explained to her that her son had missed a deadline to submit the speech to the school. Marvin says he never knew about it. "2. He clearly had it finished on time to get the approval and leave a copy for the pipsqeak principal." He was working on the speech until 5am of the day he was to give it! He missed the deadline, so the principal told him to deliver the canned speech. He thought "F**k you, I'm giving my own speech". So the school said "F**k you. No diploma." Try that in the real world. Your boss asks you to give a presentation to an important client, but wants to see it 3 days before. The morning of the presentation you finish. Your boss tells you to forget it and to give the canned company presentation. You give your own anyways. You should expect him to tell you to clean out your desk and be gone by the end of the day. The school did this kid a favor.
His English teacher told him she approved of the speech. Marvin even left a copy of the remarks on his principal’s desk for review on commencement day. Still, administrators insisted he should read the address they prepared.
Marvin didn't even finish the speech until the morning of commencement day, so I have no idea what the teacher approved or what was placed on the principal's desk. Outline? Rough draft? Notes? Moot point. He was to submit a copy of his speech by a certain date and he didn't. Meaning he was to give the canned speech. He refused.
You're hanging your hat on a mighty short nail. If he worked on it for two weeks your presumption that he didn't finish until that morning is no more valid than a presumption that he was too excited to sleep and was practicing the speech at 5 AM, perhaps changing a word or phrase to improve it.
He may have started it two weeks before, but I'm guessing he wrote it the night before. It was still on his phone when he gave it. He didn't practice. He stumbled and mumbled his way through it, embarrassing himself and the school. Which was why the school wanted the speech written, turned in and practiced well in advance.
but I'm guessing There's some truth! He stumbled and mumbled his way through it And not so much truth. He, "stumbled a few times – distracted by the conversations taking place behind him and struggling to read from his phone", which is understandable. I doubt he'll be offered a prize or a debate scholarship, but he communicated with his audience which made the day much better than a canned blurb from the pipsqueak. "Marvin’s speech was welcomed with cheers and laughs from the audience." You, misterwhite, and the pipsqueak, make writing pompous bumbling characters a breeze.
Giving a lame excuse for his stumbling and mumbling doesn't mean he didn't stumble and mumble and it certainly doesn't mean I didn't tell the truth. "Marvin’s speech was welcomed with cheers and laughs from the audience." From the students? There's a real endorsement.
More truth; congratulations! That is from whom an endorsement of a speaker counts the most -- from the audience. Truth is not truth if it is adulterated or bowdlerized. There is nothing in the report about his "mumbling", and the distractions are an understandable reason for a stumble or two. My only criticism is that he did not have notes at the ready. Even that is understandable given today's trend of replacing any hardcopy with electronic text. I would advise any speaker to always have notes (preferably cards) at the ready in case the teleprompter or other electronic aid goes down.
Correct. I got that directly from his embarrassing video. If this is the Class President, what must the rest of the students be like?
#39. To: misterwhite (#36)
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestMarvin Wright, president of his high school senior class, spent two weeks working on his graduation speech, staying up till 5 on the morning of the event to finish.
#18. To: misterwhite (#2)
"His English teacher told him she approved of the speech. Marvin even left a copy of the remarks on his principal’s desk for review on commencement day."
2. He clearly had it finished on time to get the approval and leave a copy for the pipsqeak principal.
#20. To: Anthem (#18)
1. He got approval of the speech.
#21. To: misterwhite, Anthem (#20)
#23. To: Deckard (#21)
"His English teacher told him she approved of the speech. Marvin even left a copy of the remarks on his principal’s desk for review on commencement day."
#25. To: misterwhite (#23)
Marvin Wright, president of his high school senior class, spent two weeks working on his graduation speech, staying up till 5 on the morning of the event to finish.
#27. To: Anthem (#25)
"If he worked on it for two weeks ..."
#29. To: misterwhite (#27)
#30. To: Anthem (#29)
distracted by the conversations taking place behind him and struggling to read from his phone", which is understandable.
#34. To: misterwhite (#30)
From the students? There's a real endorsement.
#36. To: Anthem (#34)
There is nothing in the report about his "mumbling",
Replies to Comment # 36. If this is the Class President, what must the rest of the students be like?
What must the rest of the country be like?
End Trace Mode for Comment # 36.
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