Thomas Jefferson University has since issued an explanation
A video has gone viral on social media showing an announcer mispronouncing multiple names during a graduation ceremony.
On Thursday (May 9), the College of Nursing graduation ceremony took place at the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
However, eyebrows were raised from the get-go when the person announcing each graduate’s names seemingly took a peculiar approach to pronouncing them.
You can listen to her bizarrely butcher the names Allison, Sarah, Molly and Thomas below:
A video shared to TikTok – by a user named @colleenb415 – shows happy graduates from the school’s nursing program take to the stage in their gowns and hats to celebrate having made it through their bachelor degrees.
A woman can be heard reading out the graduates’ names, however, her pronunciation of many has seen the clip go viral, many of the names that appear on the screen, sounding nothing like the sound which comes out of the announcers’ mouth.
The caption to the video reads: “Please tell me how one can be allowed to speak at college commencement and mess up that badly.”
And it’s not taken long for people to flock to social media in shock.
Hats off to the graduates who still smiled all the way despite the mispronunciation of their names (TikTok/ @colleenb415)
One TikTok user said: “Please I need an investigation into what happened here.”
“NO WAY THIS IS REAL??” another added.
A third wrote: “This was my graduation and it was SO FUNNY we couldn’t stop laughing.”
A fourth theorised: “College prof here – they make students submit phonetic spellings of their names, so this happens when they don’t have the actual name written out next to the phonetic version.”
Thomas Jefferson University has since issued an apology to the students and an explanation as to why such an issue occurred.
The incident took place at Thomas Jefferson University (Google Maps)
A spokesperson for the University told UNILAD: “The leadership and faculty of Thomas Jefferson University extend our sincerest apologies for the mispronunciations of the names of several of our graduating nursing students during our recent commencement ceremony. This ceremony is a celebration of the significant achievements of our students, and each graduate deserves to have their name honored correctly on this pivotal day.
“We also recognize that commencement is not only a milestone for our students but also a deeply important day for their families and loved ones who have supported them throughout their educational journey, and we are deeply sorry for any disappointment this may have caused.
“The mispronunciations occurred due to the way phonetic spellings were presented on the speaker’s cards, which was noted when the presenter apologized during the ceremony.
“This unfortunate error does not reflect the immense respect we have for our graduates and the value we place on their hard-earned accomplishments.”