Why Don’t These Students Want Michelle Obama to Speak at Their Commencement?
A petition to disinvite First Lady Michelle Obama from speaking at the USD 501 commencement ceremony in Topeka, KS has garnered 1,750 signatures as of Sunday.
What’s everybody damage? It’s nothing against the First Lady herself, but against the district’s decision to combine all five high schools’ ceremonies into one, turning it into an eight hour affair and limiting the number of family members each student can bring to four.
The petition states:
There are problems that come with the combining of the commencements. First of all, for most families in 501, money is short and we have spent hundreds of dollars buying graduation announcements that are now incorrect. The district has stated they will not refund this. Topeka High School’s graduation on its own takes approximately two and a half hours. The combining of five high schools will increase that to about six hours. With increased security the total time will be brought up to eight hours. Secondly, families have many people coming from states away taking sick leave to see the graduation. They will come to Topeka, only to find that they cannot be involved. Those with divorced families have to choose which side of the family they want to invite, this doesn’t even include siblings.
The petition was started by eighteen-year-old Taylor Gifford, who admitted she was “freaking out” when she heard of the choice of speaker, but was later dismayed at the limits that came with it.
“People think it’s a great opportunity, but it’s the graduates’ time,” Gifford told the Associated Press. “They are getting that diploma that they worked so hard for. Families are feeling that they are being cheated out of the loved ones special day.”
Gifford hoped to have 5,000 signatures by Monday. The petition is a little over one-third of the way there.
[h/t AP]
[Image via lev radin / Shutterstock.com]
