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Young Woman Hafsah Abdul-Rahman Denied Her High School Diploma For Dancing On Stage
Young Woman Denied Her High School Diploma For Dancing On Stage
Girls’ High denied a graduate her diploma because she danced across the stage. A Girls High official told Hafsah Abdul-Rahman, “You’re not getting your diploma because you made the crowd chuckle,’” the recent graduate said.
Philadelphia High School for Girls has 175 years’ worth of proud traditions, including its graduation, where young women dress in white, carrying flowers.
This year, as in years past, students were given a warning prior to their Friday ceremony at the Kimmel Center: Tell your families no cheering, shouting, or clapping when you walk across the stage to accept your diploma.
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Hafsah Abdul-Rahman, 18, was keenly aware of the restriction. As she waited for her name to be called, she even looked at her proud family and put her finger to her lips as a reminder.
When Abdul-Rahman walked across the stage, she did so silently, but with style — doing the Griddy, with a big smile.
When she reached Girls’ High principal Lisa Mesi, Abdul-Rahman reached for her diploma, only to be rebuffed. “She said, ‘You’re not getting your diploma because you made the crowd chuckle,’” Abdul-Rahman said.
Stunned, she kept walking, but “I was humiliated,” said Abdul-Rahman. “You only get one moment like that, and it was taken away from me.” She eventually received her diploma after a family member confronted another Girls’ High official, who initially refused to hand it over.
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