Clayton High School Valedictorian Leen Hijaz Says Diploma Withheld After Speech
Clayton High School valedictorian Leen Hijaz said the school is withholding her diploma after administrators stopped her graduation speech on Thursday, May 28, when she began speaking about ICE and Palestine. She said the interruption came during her closing remarks at the Clayton High School commencement ceremony.
Leen Hijaz at Clayton High School
Hijaz said on TikTok the day after graduation that her diploma was being withheld because of her speech. In the video, she said, "Throughout my entire life, my education has been something so important" and added, "I worked hard for 12 years. For that to be taken from me, I feel oppressed."
She also said, "I was extremely scared to say something and really wasn't planning on doing it, but I had so much support from my friends and family around me, and they encouraged me to say something," and, "I didn't get to say everything I wanted to say, but I said enough." Hijaz said her words made "an extremely big change" in her community.
Johnston County Public Schools
Clayton High School livestreamed the commencement on the school's YouTube page, and the interruption was recorded on video and circulated on Instagram, Reddit and TikTok. Johnston County Public Schools said students were required to submit their remarks well in advance of graduation and said Hijaz deviated from what administrators had preapproved.
The district said school administrators intervened in real time to maintain the integrity and focus of the program. It also said, "School administrators intervened in order to maintain the integrity and focus of the program in real time. This action was not about limiting a student’s voice, but about ensuring that a school-sponsored event remained consistent with its intended purpose" and, "We remain committed to supporting student expression while upholding the structure and expectations of school-sponsored activities."
Speech limits at graduation
Hijaz said she did not submit the end of her speech because the school would have denied it immediately. In a later interview, she responded to critics by asking, "Where is the place and time? What is the right place and time" and said, "My words made an extremely big change in my community. Nobody was talking about anything that was going on in the world, but now people are engaging, people are learning more people want to talk about it."
The district did not specifically state that her diploma was withheld because of the speech. The dispute now centers on whether the school’s response to a preapproved commencement speech can extend beyond the ceremony itself and affect Hijaz’s graduation record.
