High school valedictorian denied diploma for saying "hell" in speech.

[muffinss]

In the draft she submitted to school officials beforehand, she wrote "heck," her father said. "Hell" notwithstanding, the audience laughed and applauded when she finished.

Last week, when she went to pick up her diploma, the principal told her she would have to write a letter of apology before he would give her the certificate. She refused, saying she did nothing wrong.

Source - USA Today

Just ridiculous..

[Wikiy]

Source - USA Today

Just ridiculous..

Wha...? Seriously, how do people (the ones who refused to give her her certificate) who are OBVIOUSLY so stupid and illogical get in positions like that? I have a very strong urge to resort to generalizations right now (except i have a feeling it would be true this time).

[Adam Jensen]

Hell is a fictional place for fucks sake.

Should she have said Dis instead?

The way she used it was perfectly harmless. Maybe tactless because of a few morons with sticks up their asses, but harmless.

[Kaiser499]

So stupid, I would sue them.

[smelltheglove]

i hate when an idiot manages to get into a position to use their office for "statements". there is no way that denying the girl her diploma is legal, and if the girl were so inclined she could go after this school with guns blazing and win big. this is simply some bureaucrat that somehow managed to get to be in charge of a school and trying to use it to bring attention to a cause that is well outside of his/her authority by highjacking this girl's credentials. what an asshole

[theredviola]

Ah yes, another story that makes me proud to be an Oklahoman... /facepalm

[KrazyK923]

Yay religion.

[Faroth]

And if a celebrity had given a graduation speech using "hell" would anything be said? This young woman is about to enter the adult world and is apparently more grown up than the school administration.

[Garnier Fructis]

i hate when an idiot manages to get into a position to use their office for "statements". there is no way that denying the girl her diploma is legal, and if the girl were so inclined she could go after this school with guns blazing and win big. this is simply some bureaucrat that somehow managed to get to be in charge of a school and trying to use it to bring attention to a cause that is well outside of his/her authority by highjacking this girl's credentials. what an asshole

Unfortunately, a school CAN legally withhold a diploma from a student. She could take the school to court and probably win since her speech did not contain sexual or drug related talk. However, that would cost both time and money and it would be much easier just to write the apology and be done with it.

[Adam Jensen]

Yay religion.

This has nothing to do with religion. Just a principle with screwed up priorities.

[Kreyzor]

This has nothing to do with religion. Just a principle with screwed up priorities.

This, please don't make this about religion, because it's not. It's just a case of a person in power being a prude.

[Faroth]

Yay religion.

Why do people who dislike religion always seem to be the first one to bring religion into a discussion? This article has nothing to do with religion, nor does the school's stance have anything to do with religion. If she had used a different expletive in her speech, the same result would have occurred.

The sad thing is, this young woman is top of her class and about to enter the real world and she's more mature than the administration. This is utterly ridiculous.

[Deleted]

Apologize for what? I don't see a problem here...

[Deleted]

Unfortunately, a school CAN legally withhold a diploma from a student. She could take the school to court and probably win since her speech did not contain sexual or drug related talk. However, that would cost both time and money and it would be much easier just to write the apology and be done with it.

Rolling over is always easier, doesn't mean it should necessarily be done.

[frequency]

Unfortunately, a school CAN legally withhold a diploma from a student. She could take the school to court and probably win since her speech did not contain sexual or drug related talk. However, that would cost both time and money and it would be much easier just to write the apology and be done with it.

That says a lot about one's character

[FraterN]

Hell is a real place; It is a small village in Stjørdal, Norway, and ironically one of the coldest places to live. I don't see whats wrong about mentioning the name of a Norwegian town in a speech...

[Karaoke]

She would have gotten the same effect using the word 'heck'. Why she would chance the backlash using the word 'hell' (I'm not debating whether or not the school's response is appropriate) is beyond me. The lesson - learn to pick your battles.

[Arkhias]

What? Public school officials given vast amount of mostly unregulated autocratic power are abusing it? Never heard of something like this happening before.

[oplawlz]

Honestly, schools are so ridiculous about graduation ceremonies. If you know anyone who is about to graduate or has recently you should ask them to show you the rules, it's good for a laugh.

[Judge Malthred]

How do people like that get into positions like that? Who knows. They are probably just good bullshit artists. In my high school the vice principal held a job of 'prison guard' prior to being hired as the VP.

This overweight bitch would falsify documents to get kids she didn't like into trouble. Most notable example was when a friend of mine (we were both on football team) got suspended but his suspension was up on a Friday. By the rules, this allowed him to play in our big game on Saturday. That fat bitch got up at 6am when she found out about this, drove her ass down to the school and forged a document and his signature to show that the suspension went through Saturday and prevented him from playing.

To my knowledge she never suffered any negative backlash from the underhanded things she did.