Graduation day for many a high school student is a cause for celebration. Over the years, students have dapped up administrators, done a dance routine with a nearby classmate, or even temporarily held up the ceremony just so their full achievements could be heard and appreciated.
In Tyvion Campbell’s case, the Chicago Tech Academy graduate found herself at the center of an internet firestorm thanks to a split (and a little more) during her graduation ceremony.
In the clip, which has garnered nearly 1 million views on TikTok, Campbell walked the stage at the Harold Washington Cultural Center with her hand aloft in celebration of her high school graduation. Not long after she reached the podium, she dropped down into a split. The video, captured from different angles, led to what Campbell called “discrimination” a few days later, as school administrators withheld her diploma.
“Now, a quick back story. I’ve been telling these people for weeks that I was gonna do a split on stage,” she claimed in a follow-up video, which has been viewed nearly 3 million times. “It was not a surprise. They just thought I was joking, and that’s the problem. Now, don’t think I’m joking, because I’m not.”
Campbell said she had previously mentioned doing the split and that after she wasn’t handed her diploma, she was asked to step outside for a conversation with the dean and the school principal, Zataya Shackleford.
“She was beyond angry. Like, livid. It was genuine tears in her eyes, and her mouth was shaking. She was really, really, really, really upset,” Campbell said. “And she’s like, you need to figure out a way how you’re gonna make up for this. Um, you’re not getting your diploma until you figure out a way how you’re gonna, um, make up for what you just did. And I’m like, wait, I have to figure that out, or do you have to figure that out?”
In a memo obtained by Fox 32 Chicago, there were no rules specified for what students could do at graduation, only that parents could not bring helium balloons and that parking was specified. Eventually, Campbell was granted her diploma and says she has zero regrets over the split.
“Honestly, I didn’t think it was a twerk,” she told Fox 32’s Tia Ewing. “In my opinion, I thought I was just doing a split. But I apologize to anyone who thought it was inappropriate, and I am truly sorry. But I have no regrets at the same time. I would definitely say make sure you get your diploma first, then do your dance.”
Campbell will attend Georgia State University in the fall and major in business administration.
