U. of Florida President Apologizes for ‘Inappropriately Aggressive’ Treatment of Graduating Students

What might’ve been a day for celebration turned into a spree of complaints of racism at the University of Florida over the weekend. As graduates walked across a commencement stage to receive their degrees, some were held and escorted away after posing for their parents and dancing.

The university’s president, W. Kent Fuchs, issued an apology to those students in a statement that said an usher had been “inappropriately aggressive in rushing students across stage.” In his statement Fuchs also said that he’d called each of the students and that the practice of hurrying students across the stage would be dropped in future ceremonies.

“We will work to make sure all graduating students know we are proud of their achievements and celebrate with them,” he wrote.

Video of the commencement ceremony shows many students walking and doing the “Florida Gator Chomp,” making fist pumps, or waving to their families. But other video shows African-American and Latino/a graduates’ being hustled along by an usher in orange and blue robes. There’s also video of white female students’ being pushed forward when they stopped to take photos of themselves.

Oliver Telusma, a member of an African-American Greek organization told the Gainesville Sun that he had been one of the students pulled by the staff member. “I had just started … and he picked me up and turned me around, which I thought was kind of embarrassing and degrading to be handled in that manner,” said Telusma, a member of the Beta Sigma chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. “It was just really uncalled for, especially for anyone not martially trained to do that.”

Another student, a black woman, wrote on Twitter that she “almost fell when he pushed me.”

A university spokeswoman, Margot Winick, told The Chronicle that the matter is under review. She would not disclose the name of the employee who had manhandled the students.