Graduation ceremony goes viral as announcer gets every name wrong

Graduation didn’t go as planned for a group of ’24 graduates, as the announcer pronounced every single person’s name wrong.

TikToker ‘colleenb415’ captured a moment in history for the college graduates of Thomas Jefferson University on Thursday, May 9.

While watching from home, Colleen recorded the 2024 commencement, which has now gone viral for its hilarity.

Though a prestigious University, the commentator who was reading the graduates’ names butchered literally every single one of them.

“Malina Zabeth Camp,” she read as the nursing student “Molly Elizabeth Camp” walked across the stage. 

The announcer even pronounced the name “Thomas” incorrectly despite the University being named after former U.S. president Thomas Jefferson.

The student, “Thomas Micheal Caneveri Jr.” even corrected the woman after she didn’t attempt to pronounce his tricky last name.

As another nursing student walked across the stage, the woman was so far off, that Colleen let out a roaring laugh. “Victoria Lee Zoo-per-fross,” the commentator said as “Victoria Elizabeth Bruce” grabbed her diploma.

Though the graduates could have reacted negatively, they, for the most part, shrugged the incorrections off and giggled at how wrong their names were pronounced.

Viewers of the viral mishap, however, didn’t let up on their hilarious reactions. “Please I need an investigation into what happened here,” wrote one. 

“This person is allowed to work in education?” asked another, while someone else refused to believe the fiasco was real. 

There were some viewers, though, who put themselves in the shoes of the graduates, saying if they had paid for a degree, that they’d expect their names to be read properly and would be sad if this had happened to them.

Though the woman did read most names wrong, it could be possible that she was reading phonetically, where you pronounce words how they sound instead of how they are spelled. 

Despite the moment being a bad reflection on the University, Colleen’s TikTok went completely viral, gaining over 7M views in under one day. She also confirmed with a viewer that the announcer apologized for saying the graduates’ names wrong.