Jaisaan Lovett's speech as valedictorian at his prep school was given at Rochester’s city hall instead of during graduation ceremony because of a fallout between the student and the principal.
Lovett, the first black valedictorian at University Preparatory Charter School for Young Men, said he was turned down to speak at the graduation ceremony by Joseph Munno, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported.
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren, who also is black and who Lovett worked for as an intern, invited him to give the speech at city hall, and it was then posted on the city's official YouTube site where it has had more than 77,000 views since Tuesday.
Lovett had numerous run-ins with Munno during his time at the New York high school – including leading a five-day student strike at the all-male school when he said it would not order needed safety equipment for a lab – and he had pointed words for the principal in the speech.
"To Mr. Munno, my principal, there's a whole lot of things I've wanted to say to you for a long time. ... I'm here as the UPrep 2018 valedictorian to tell you that you couldn't break me. I'm still here, and I'm still here strong," he said, according to the Democrat and Chronicle.
"And after all these years, all this anger I've had toward you and UPrep as a whole, I realized I had to let that go in order to better myself. And I forgive you for everything I held against you."
On Wednesday, the school’s board of trustees said on Facebook that it was aware of the situation.
"The board will be reviewing the circumstances regarding what happened and looking into the related guidelines and school policies," said the statement. "For confidentiality reasons, the school isn't able to speak about the specifics of this situation.”
"However, the school did try to connect with the Mayor's Office and the school's call was not returned. UPrep wishes Jaisaan Lovett, the first black Valedictorian in the school's four-year graduation history, much success as he continues his education at Clark Atlanta University."
University Prep is one of Rochester's best regarded charter schools, with annual graduation rates well above 90 percent, the Democrat and Chronicle said.
Lovett's older brother, LaJason Lovett, was salutatorian at University Prep last year and received a full ride to Morehouse College.
Jaisaan Lovett also received a full scholarship. He plans to study video game design.
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