GAINESVILLE, FL -- Spring 2018 University of Florida graduate Nafeesah Neenah Attah had imagined the moment over and over in her head. She would walk to the stage, accept her diploma and then perform an impromptu dance of joy to celebrate her achievement.
"I planned what I wanted to do to celebrate my story and all the hard work I’ve done," she said.
Her idea wasn't original. She said the dancing stroll off the stage is a cultural tradition in historically black fraternities and sororities. She'd seen other students do it at graduation ceremonies and she knew a number of fellow graduates were planning similar celebratory dances at this year's UF graduation.
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But the reality bore little resemblance to Attah's mind's eye.
Instead of performing her strolling dance off stage with her diploma in hand at the May 5 ceremony, Attah said she was unceremoniously grabbed and shoved off the stage by a white man who appeared to have the duty of hurrying the graduation ceremony along. UF has not named the man.
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Attah said it was obvious to her that black students were singled out for this harsh treatment.
"His (the usher's) response was not arbitrary," she said. "It was definitely dependent on your race. Other white students who were dancing were not seen as a threat."
Oliver Telusma said he still cringes when he watches the video his family took of what was supposed to be his crowning achievement. He barely began his celebratory dance before he was yanked off the stage, ruining his moment of glory.
"I don’t think I’ve ever been handled in that manner, not even by my parents," he said. "It’s kind of embarrassing, kind of degrading."
Officials at the University of Florida are now eating crow after numerous videos of black students getting yanked off the stage surfaced on social media sites.
"During one of this weekend’s commencement ceremonies, we were inappropriately aggressive in rushing students across the stage," UF President W. Kent Fuchs apologized in a Twitter post on Sunday, May 6. " I personally apologize, and am reaching out to the students involved."
A minute later, he tweeted again: "The practice (of yanking students off the stage) has been halted for all future ceremonies, and we will work to make sure all graduating students know we are proud of their achievements and celebrate with them their graduation."
