PETALUMA (CA)
Chicago Tribune
June 12, 2018
By Heidi Stevens
Lulabel Seitz, the valedictorian at Petaluma High School in Northern California, was plugging along nicely on her commencement address about overcoming obstacles and achieving dreams when suddenly her mic went dead.
“The class of 2018 has demonstrated time and time again that we may be a new generation, but we are not too young to speak up, to dream and to create change,” she told the crowd of graduates and their loved ones. “Which is why even when some people on this campus, those same people — ”
Cut!
She veered off-script around the four-minute mark, and administrators were having none of it. Students submitted their speeches for approval, principal David Stirrat told The Washington Post, and they were warned that if they deviated from the approved remarks, the microphone could be cut off.
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