For going off-script at graduation and talking about his faith, Micah Price was punished by having his high school diploma withheld. But on Wednesday (May 29), five days after the ceremony, his Northern Kentucky school granted him the much-anticipated certificate.
Price had received permission to thank his “Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ” at the May 24 commencement for Campbell County High in Alexandria. But then he diverged from the approved message, urging listeners to seek God.
“Class, before another word is to leave my mouth,” Price said, “I must give the honor, the praise, and the glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who in his very words tells us he is the light, he is the way, the truth and life.”
His speech, which received hearty applause, continued, “Class, anyone in the audience today, I’m here to tell you that if you don’t have any of those things in your life and can’t seem to find the answer, then my Lord and Savior is your answer.”
Micah Price: ‘I Deserve to Get Punished’
After the ceremony, Micah Price said, an assistant principal “very politely and professionally told me that I was going to have to go in front of the [school] board and explain what I did because I went off script.”
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The teen, who has been posting TikTok videos about the incident, admitted he was in the wrong but said he “serves a higher power.” School officials were “just doing their job,” Price said, adding, “I deserve to get punished.”
On May 27, Price said he’d talked to his principal and would receive his diploma without appearing before the school board. The new graduate also asked people to stop threatening school officials because of what happened to him. “Anybody who’s taking a hateful route to this, I please ask that you would just take a chill pill and just timeout,” Price told his online followers.
After finally receiving the diploma, Price described it as “an answered prayer.” The teen, who’s heading to the U.S. Air Force Academy next, said the graduation debacle has him pondering a ministry career.
Superintendent: Speakers Were Warned About Repercussions
In a statement, superintendent Shelli Wilson said:
All speakers were told that going off their submitted speech, or any unplanned choices at graduation, may have repercussions as they would at any school function. Off-program choices such as speech, signs, and caps in support of any cause or religion, injecting inappropriate language, or political election statements could lead to something other than this outpouring of Christian faith.
Wilson added, “While I know, personally, that many of us are proud of this young man’s beliefs and are practicing Christians ourselves, the principal has to consider the possibilities of students going off the planned program.”
, five days after the ceremony, his Northern Kentucky school granted him the much-anticipated certificate.){kind=link}