Thomas Jefferson University goes viral after announcer mispronounces names at graduation

A university in Philadelphia is apologizing to its students and their loved ones after it became the center of attention and jokes over the weekend after videos of the presenter mispronouncing names during the graduation ceremony went viral on social media.

Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia apologized to students, families and their loved ones for the gaff Friday that took place during the graduation ceremony for nursing students, saying that 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 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 said in a statement, also posted to social media. "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 also extended their apologies to the students' loved ones for any disappointment the mispronunciations may have caused.

"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 statement added.

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Thomas became 'Tha-mo-may'

In the videos from the nursing school's ceremony that went viral on social media, the presenter can be heard struggling with saying the names of many of graduating students. For example, instead of "Molly Elizabeth Camp" the speaker can be heard saying "Mollina -zabeth- cap," “May-vee Lee Zu-beth” for Maeve Elizabeth, or instead of "Thomas" they said "Tha-mo-may."

The mispronunciations elicited mixed responses from the crowd. While some laughed at the errors, others, such as Thomas appeared to be confused and even tried to correct the pronunciations.

About halfway through the presentation, the presenter was changed, with the original speaker apologizing for the mispronunciations.

“My apologies for the phonetic spelling or pronunciation of the names that was on the cards," the speaker could be heard saying. "I would have been better just reading from the book. My apologies, graduates."

Many roasted the university for being unable to pronounce "Thomas" correctly, given that the university's name is Thomas Jefferson University.

The incident even made it to Jimmy Fallon.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @saman_shafiq7.