Philadelphia Principal Gets The Boot After Denying Graduates Diplomas

The principal of the Philadelphia High School for Girls who denied graduates their diploma has been replaced, Fox 29 reports.

Principal Lisa Mesi went viral after a video showed her denying Hafsah Abdur-Rahman her high school diploma after she did the “griddy” dance across the stage. The crowd watching cheered and even laughed, causing Abdur-Rahman not to receive her diploma. “Miss Mesi said she didn’t give me my diploma because the crowd chuckled,” Abdur-Rahman said. Her mother, Jaszmine Reid, feels the principal’s actions were humiliating. “After four years of high school, all these girls went through a lot—through COVID, mentally, physically—and you just humiliate them,” Reid said.

Parents of the students received a letter from Philadelphia School District Associate Superintendent Tomás Hanna announcing Janis Butler, Mesi’s substitute principal replacement, however, it is only temporary. For now, it is unknown if Mesi will return to the school as she claims to have received death threats over the video.

Patch reports Abdur-Rahman danced in honor of her sister, who died in 2014 due to gun violence. She wasn’t the only one who didn’t receive her diploma that day. Saleemah Burch was also denied her diploma after the audience reacted to something she did on stage. In total, four girls received their diplomas after the ceremony concluded. The district put out a statement apologizing for Mesi’s actions. “The Philadelphia District does not condone the withholding of earned diplomas based on family members cheering for their graduates,” the statement reads. “We apologize to all the families and graduates who were impacted and are further looking into this matter to avoid it happening in the future.”

The Philadelphia High School for Girls is one of the first public high schools for women in the United States, opening in 1848, and has a strict code of tradition, including celebration during graduations.