Thomas Jefferson University has issued an apology after a presenter mispronounced names during their recent graduation ceremony.
The incident garnered widespread attention and criticism, with many pointing out the irony of mispronunciation at a university named after one of America's founding fathers.
Thomas Jefferson University, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, released a statement on Facebook apologizing for mispronouncing the names of several nursing graduates during a recent commencement ceremony.
"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," the university stated in its apology.
During the ceremony, the presenter apologized for the phonetic spelling or pronunciation of the names on the students' cards.
She acknowledged her mistake and expressed that she would have been better off reading from the book.
The mispronunciation included several nursing students' names such as Jessica, Allison, Sarah, Louise, Virginia, Stephanie, Maeve, Molly, and Elizabeth.
Instead of saying "Molly Elizabeth Camp," the speaker said "Mollina—zabeth—cap." For Maeve Elizabeth, she blurted out "May-vee Lee Zu-beth." Sarah Virginia Brennan's name was pronounced as "Sayer Oo-voon Geen-goo Bree-none."
One particular name, "Tha-mo-may," also known as Thomas Michael Canevari Jr., surprised many attendees.
As the presenter said "Tha-mo-may," there were sighs of disappointment from the audience, and the student corrected her frustratedly, saying, "It's Thomas."
The viral moment received widespread criticism online, with many people roasting the university for such a major blunder.
The fact that the university itself is named Thomas Jefferson University, yet the person announcing the graduates' names struggled to pronounce "Thomas," drew significant attention and mockery.
Even comedian Jimmy Fallon joined in on the roast, sharing the clip on his late-night show, remarking that the presenter managed to make a graduation entertaining.
With three more commencement ceremonies scheduled at the university, set to take place on May 21 and 22, the hope is that similar mistakes can be avoided.
The university's apology serves as a recognition of the error and a commitment to improving its processes for future ceremonies.
They need to hold another graduation for those kids! Ridiculous! One user said.
Obviously, that person is dyslexic or something is wrong with them... These are simple names... the second user commented.
If you are going to use phonetics to read their names at least get someone that can read phonetics!! The third user criticized.
I think it made the graduation more fun! Another user said.
Over 20 years ago my university required us to turn in a card with our name and the phonetic pronunciation of our names. I can't imagine why every school wouldn't be doing this, someone wrote.
