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By Jenna Sundel
News Reporter
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Thomas Jefferson University is addressing the viral moment at the school's nursing graduation on Thursday that left many people scratching their heads.
In several TikTok videos, graduates are seen waiting for their names to be called so they can walk across the stage and get their diplomas. The anticipation is quickly followed by the announcer mispronouncing the names to the point where it is barely recognizable.
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The speaker gets tripped up by several common names, including Elizabeth, Sarah, Virginia, Thomas and Jessica.
After several mispronunciations, the announcer receives some help from another person on the stage and the graduation continues as planned.
The university apologized for the incident in a statement sent to Newsweek.
"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," a university spokesperson said. "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 university explained how the announcer got mixed up while reading the names.
"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," the spokesperson said. "This unfortunate error does not reflect the immense respect we have for our graduates and the value we place on their hard-earned accomplishments."
Most of the 650 graduates looked puzzled or amused by the error, but one decided to correct the announcer. That graduate, Thomas Michael Canevari Jr., shared a video of the incident on TikTok and spoke out against the university.
"After all the [hard work] my fellow classmates and I did, I feel very dismissed and that Jefferson does care about their graduates," Canevari said in the caption of the video.
He asked anyone who feels that the graduates deserve more recognition to contact the university.
While many social media users find the mishap comical, others are confused as to how the names were so far off.
"How? The phonetic spelling should be how it is pronounced," one user wrote.
Others sympathized with the graduates.
"I'm a community college [professor] and seeing my students walk is the best day of the year. You all deserve so much better!" another user wrote.
Thomas Jefferson University is a private research university in Philadelphia. The institution is known for its healthcare programs.
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