‘Like a Key and Peele skit’: The Thomas Jefferson University graduation names mix-up, explained

A mortifying scene unfolded at the Thomas Jefferson University 2024 graduation commencement ceremony and the school’s apology and explanation for what happened only made things worse.

In viral TikTok videos, several Thomas Jefferson University graduates in Philadelphia are seen on stage receiving their diplomas. At the same time, whoever is on the PA system calls out the graduate’s names but so badly mispronounces several of them that they’re nearly incomprehensible. Allison Nicole Bishop, for example, became something like “Alli-soona-Cole-Bishop,” and some were worse than that.

A few students reportedly corrected the pronunciations at the time, and at one point, a voice on the speaker’s mic can be heard asking the woman to read the names more carefully. In one TikTok post from someone who was there, Joanlogan wrote, “Forgot I was at my sisters nursing graduation and thought it was a key and peele skit [sic],” referring to Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele skit in which the comedians satirize the sometimes unusual names of NFL players.

The speaker apologized at the ceremony

When it was discovered why the speaker at the Thomas Jefferson University graduation mispronounced some students’ names, she reportedly apologized for what happened mid-ceremony. “My apologies for the phonetic spelling or pronunciation of the names that was on the cards, I would have been better just reading from the book,” she said.

The school also released a statement

Afterward, Thomas Jefferson University also released a statement which read in part,

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. 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.”

via Thomas Jefferson University

So, the speaker was only provided the phonetic pronunciations of the names she was expected to read and that’s what caused the mix-up. Some names were messed up so badly, however, it seems like there must be more to the story — how could something like that happen? Or as one TikTok comment put it, ” … The phonetic spelling should be how it is pronounced.”

Granted, some mispronunciations were pretty funny, but sadly some students were upset. Tjcanveri, who said they were a student at Thomas Jefferson, captioned their TikTok video, ” … After all the hardwork my fellow classmates and I did, i feel very dismissed and that jefferson does care about their graduates [sic].”