A student’s biggest dream is to walk across the stage during their school’s commencement ceremony; getting rushed off the stage is not.
This was the case for a number of African-American students at the University of Florida’s ceremony on Saturday.
As students were called up to receive their diplomas, some decided to perform a quick celebratory dance. But a faculty member didn’t find the performances to his liking, and forcibly rushed the graduates off the stage.
UF Twitter 🗣🗣
Somebody please find out this employee’s name!! Every time a Black student took more than TWO seconds, he aggressively pushed them. Watch it for yourself. #ItsGreatUF pic.twitter.com/zMee1nMbUZ
— Chris (@ChicoFreedom) May 5, 2018
Almost fell when he pushed me pic.twitter.com/98meStYalY
— thugger 🐢 (@mythuggin) May 5, 2018
Several people took to social media to post videos of the incidents, saying the man’s actions were unfair and unnecessary.
“This is absolutely disgusting, these students have paid more (than) $40,000 in tuition and if they want to dance for 4 secs then it’s their prerogative,” Mackintosh Joachin, a student at the university, shared on Facebook.
The videos quickly sparked outrage, with some who watched them accusing the university of racism.
The University is proud of the achievements of every single one of our graduates and regrets that any celebration of the day may have been diminished by those monitoring a graduation ceremony.
— FLORIDA (@UF) May 6, 2018
UF tweeted later Saturday: “The University is proud of the achievements of every single one of our graduates and regrets that any celebration of the day may have been diminished by those monitoring a graduation ceremony.”
On Sunday morning, school President Kent Fuchs, who was at the ceremony, tweeted an apology.