President of the University of Florida has apologized for a graduation ceremony
in which graduating students, predominantly black, were aggressively
pushed offstage. Hey, you're watching What's Trending. I'm Kale Hills.
Subscribe for more trending and social media news every day. Several of the
students were performing choreographed dances popular in their fraternities and
sororities. In general, I don't think I've ever been handled in that manner, not even by my parents. It's kind of
embarrassing, kind of degrading. The students reportedly being rushed off the
stage for taking too long, but the university now facing backlash accused
of targeting only black students at the ceremony. The faculty member on stage is
called a "platform marshall" and his job, according to the university, was to
"monitor the flow" of graduates. It seems like he thinks monitoring the flow of
graduates means aggressively moving them out of the way. It's easy to see that he
takes his job very seriously. And in case you think it's selective editing or
camera placement, the view isn't much better from the stands where the faculty
member is audibly booed.
One of the students, Nafeesah Attah, said she was hurt that her planned celebration
was interrupted. I kind of planned what I wanted to do on the stage to celebrate
my story and all the hard work I've done at the University of Florida, but I was
instantly like blocked by one of the officials on stage. The university's
president W. Kent Fuchs took to Twitter to apologize.
He wrote: "During one of this weekend's commencement ceremonies, we were
inappropriately aggressive in rushing students across the stage. I personally
apologize, and am reaching out to the students involved. The practice 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." Oliver Telusma, one of the more aggressively-handled
students at the ceremony, said he received a voice mail from Mr. Fox, but
has not yet called back. The unidentified faculty member in the video has been
placed on paid administrative leave. President Fuchs also posted a video to
YouTube further apologizing for the incident. And I'm communicating with all
of you to apologize personally, and secondly to apologize on behalf of the
University. To apologize for the fact that we didn't provide a commencement in
which all students felt that they were... had the opportunity to to be honored and
to celebrate. He says he's asked the university's vice president and student
body president to form a task force looking at ways to improve the
commencement ceremonies. Ah, of course. The best way to handle any problem.
Bureaucracy. I don't know if we really need to create a task force to address
this situation. I think the simplest solution is just to not push people off
the stage. Am I the president now? There's a bit of debate online about whether or
not the incidents were racially motivated. Was it just a coincidence that
the students who were most aggressively handled were students of color? The UF
Black Student Union released a statement that says: "Although students of multiple
identities experienced this aggression during a milestone accomplishment for
themselves, we urge everyone to acknowledge the
hostile environment created for black students who rightly showed excitement."
And the university itself has admitted as much. They said: "These actions
disproportionately affected students of color and are not in line with UF's stated
institutional values." But apology or no, Oliver Telusma must said the memory of
what happened won't fade for him or his family. And other students are also not
forgetting the incident. Chris Garcia-Wilde, a student who walked amidst others
who were aggressively-handled, tweeted: "We want him fired. He's racist and violent,
and shouldn't be around students." There are also concerns that what happened at
the ceremony are just symptoms of larger racial issues on UF's campus. Just in the
last few years, a noose was found in a classroom, a student had Black History
Month decorations torn down, and a man rode a bike around campus with a
swastika on his arm. So, President Fuch's message, though conciliatory and
respectful, may not address the overall problem in a way students of color will
appreciate. A bit of a tangent here, but President Fuchs has previously made some
very concerted efforts to show UF students that he gets them. Here he is in
a promotional video called: "Memes Look Fun". I gave Snapchat a try. Maybe I could
give Vine a try. Maybe not. Memes look fun. Okay. The whole thing?
Maybe cinnamon isn't your thing. That video also features Fuchs recreating "I
Like Turtles" kid as well as Salt Bae. Does the Memes Look Fun video have
anything at all to do with the commencement controversy? No. Is it dumb
and hilarious? Yes. Will the president re-enacting Charlie
Bit My Finger help allay fears of a hostile environment for students of
color? Probably not. What do you guys think? Is the school actually doing
enough to address the incident? Let us know in the comments and for more
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