University of Florida graduates dragged off stage while receiving diplomas

[ASTalumna06]

https://abcnews.go.com/US/university...ry?id=54979432

The University of Florida apologized on Sunday after students complained about the behavior of an usher who they claimed manhandled graduates during a spring commencement ceremony over the weekend.
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Oliver Telusma was also aggressively removed from the stage when he tried to celebrate.

“I had just started, and he picked me up and turned me around, which I thought was kind of embarrassing and degrading to be handled in that manner,” the 21-year-old Telusma told The Gainesville Sun.

Telusma, a member of the Beta Sigma chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, said he had to shove the usher in order to break free of his grip.
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University of Florida graduate Christopher Garcia-Wilde said the usher appeared to only shove black students who wanted to celebrate on stage “by strolling, which is a cultural tradition in historically black fraternities and sororities.” Other students who took slightly more time on stage were rushed, but not in an aggressive manner, he said.

“It’s a tradition to stroll at graduation if you choose to, and people have been doing this for years,” Garcia-Wilde, 22, told The Gainesville Sun on Sunday. “I was actually too afraid [to stroll] because I saw him shove other people.

“But my two friends who graduated with me really wanted to do it, so they tried. They both were pushed and one of them got an entire bear hug,” he added.

Telusma, one of Garcia-Wilde's friends who was manhandled on stage, said the usher's behavior was undoubtedly racist.