Thomas Jefferson University Apologizes For Mispronounced Names At Commencement

Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University has issued an apology after footage of an announcer mispronouncing the names of several students at its May 9 commencement ceremony went viral.

During the school’s College of Nursing graduation ceremony, a presenter struggled with the names so dramatically that it was compared on social media to the famous Key & Peele “Substitute Teacher” (warning: some NSFW language) skit.

As NBC News reported, “…Graduate Sarah Virginia Brennan’s name was pronounced ‘Sayer Oo-voon Geen-goo Bree-none,’ according to a video from the ceremony. Maeve Elizabeth was pronounced ‘May-vee Lee Zu-beth.’ A Stephanie’s first name was pronounced ‘Eff-uni,’ and a Jessica, ‘Jay-sic-u.’”

As People Magazine reports, the presenter seemed to struggle due to the phonetic spelling of the names of the students written on the cards she was reading. In a recording of the ceremony posted to TikTok, the presenter apologized to the graduates, “My apologies for the phonetic spelling or pronunciation of the names that was on the cards, I would have been better just reading from the book.”

The university later issued its own official apology, releasing a statement to People, “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.”

Thomas Jefferson University continued, “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. 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.”

According to NBC News, the speaker was replaced once the graduates reached the last names beginning with the letter “L,” which also gave her room to apologize to the graduates. Some responded less charitably on X, criticizing the speaker as “functionally illiterate” and a “DEI hire,” despite no images of the speaker circulating. 

The Philadelphia university has three more graduation ceremonies scheduled for May 21 and May 22.

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