Whiting (IN) High School Administration

On June 9, 2002, eighteen-year old honor student and senior class salutatorian Caitlin Mills-Groninger presented her pre-approved speech during graduation ceremonies. At the conclusion of the speech, which urged her classmates to denounce discrimination and build a civil society, she announced "Teachers have always been giving us awards, and I say that turnabout is fair play. I will now present, with much gratitude and affection, awards to the teachers, to whom we owe so much." She then proceeded to call 13 teachers and present them with such imaginary awards as "Trapped in the '80s," "Sesame Street Critic," "Shakespearean Occultist of the Year" and "Pain in the Asymptote." (An asymptote is a mathematical term. The award was given to a math teacher.)

The awards were designed to be playful recognition of some of Caitlin's favorite teachers, and were well received. Indeed, several teachers thanked Caitlin after the ceremony. Members of the school's administration however, were not amused by her unapproved honorarium. During the ceremony they quietly replaced Caitlin's diploma with a letter asking her parents to schedule a meeting with school officials, which was presented to her in place of her diploma. Although Caitlin was given her diploma at a later date, she was unable to share in the experience of receiving it with her classmates.

While school officials have the authority to prevent disruption of school activities, the manner in which the Whiting High School administration exercised that authority in this instance deserves censure. Caitlin Mills-Groninger's comments were not intended to disrupt, but rather were designed to pleasantly enhance what should have been the positive culmination of the high school careers of her classmates and herself. Instead, the administration spoiled the memory of this once-in-a-lifetime experience for a dedicated student by blindly asserting its authority to control the content of graduation ceremony speeches and thereby earns a 2003 Jefferson Muzzle.