Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University’s class of 2024 passed with flying colors, but it appears the presenter announcing the names of the graduates needs to go back to school.
A viral video of the debacle received over 13 million views, with many comparing it to the “Substitute Teacher” sketch from the show Key & Peele. In the clip from the May 9 ceremony, the presenter butchers the name pronunciations beyond recognition.
Thomas Jefferson University later issued a statement with its “sincerest apologies for the mispronunciations.” The school blamed the mistakes on “the way phonetic spellings were presented on the speaker’s cards,” adding that the presenter had apologized at the graduation ceremony.
“This unfortunate error does not reflect the immense respect we have for our graduates and the value we place on their hard-earned accomplishments,” the university said in a statement.