A recent graduation ceremony at Thomas Jefferson University has become the talk of social media for all the wrong reasons.
The commencement event was marred by the unique pronunciations of graduates’ names by the announcer, with even common names like Elizabeth and Thomas—ironically, the university’s namesake—being butchered beyond recognition.
One TikTok user, @colleenb415, posted a video from the ceremony with the caption, “Please tell me how one can be allowed to speak at college commencement and mess up that badly.”
The video went viral, amassing over 7 million views within 17 hours. In the clip, the announcer could be heard fumbling simple names.
Social media users are baffled at how the announcer was permitted to continue, despite the errors becoming increasingly apparent.
WATCH:
i am in tears laughing so hard at this how can you possibly mispronounce THOMAS pic.twitter.com/YITSQ5MzKO
— drake c. toll, party animal. (@drakectoll) May 10, 2024
Here’s a clearer version:
The commencement presenter at Thomas Jefferson University accidentally read off the phonetic spellings of each graduate’s name and oh my god. pic.twitter.com/DVLGibmnRZ
— Michael Collier (@MikeACollier) May 10, 2024
Below are some of the comments:
Another creator, @sauc.y, shared a video where the announcer publicly apologized, saying, “And my apologies for the phonetic spelling, er, pronunciation of the names that were on the cards. I would have done better just reading from the book. Apologies graduates.”
According to @sauc.y, the announcer took nearly 30 minutes to realize the extent of the issue.
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@sauc.y Replying to @lucy_gillian #greenscreenvideo ♬ original sound – Saucy
Lauren Conway, who was one of the nursing graduates, reflected on the incident.
“Someone went up to her and was like “read just the names not the phonetic spelling” and then she took one of the commencement books and read names,” Conway wrote. “She apologized… I think she just didn’t realize and was possibly flustered!!
The incident prompted a flurry of questions on TikTok about how such mistakes could happen, with another commenter writing, “Even if it was written phonetically, how?” Some social media users attributed it to the DEI agenda.
To give context to the mishaps, phonetics is the scientific study of speech sounds. For example, the name ‘Thomas’ has a few variations, but the standard pronunciations include ‘TAW-muhs’ and ‘TOM-uhs.’ Similarly, ‘Elizabeth’ can vary but typically includes ‘ee-LIH-zuh-beth’ or ‘el-LIZ-uh-beth.’
The gaffe-ridden ceremony has undoubtedly put Thomas Jefferson University in an unwanted spotlight.
Others pointed out that the scene is reminiscent of a humorous moment from a Key & Peele sketch, where names are humorously mispronounced.
WATCH:
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