Kudos to seniors for holding graduation despite Murphy’s 'rule'

A few days ago I wrote about my sadness for the Wayne High School seniors who would not have the graduation ceremonies the mayor tried to schedule for them, because Gov. Phil Murphy filed suit to stop them from happening.

I wrote about my frustration about the paltry difference between the scheduled dates of the ceremonies (June 18 and June 19) and the arbitrarily designated date (July 6) that graduations would be allowed ... when Murphy’s magic wand would magically make everything OK. I wrote that there was no rhyme or reason to choose that date. Either that, or the general public would not be privy to Murphy’s rhymes or reasons.

Well, good news to report: those ballsy Wayne seniors and their families knew the deal. They knew, as most do, that those couple of weeks weren’t gonna make a lick of difference in this overblown “war on COVID-19.” So they had their graduation anyway.

Apparently, they realized that the ceremony that they had worked their whole academic lives for was worth whatever little tantrum Murphy would have over it after all was said and done. Also apparent was their families’ willingness to say “to H-E-double hockey sticks” with Murphy’s rules.

Tapinto.net describes the graduation, reporting that the graduating class “took matters into their own hands” and held the ceremony, and a respectable 180 graduates out of 305 attended, along with various families.

School Board President Suzanne Pudup told New Jersey 101.5 that she only learned about the graduation ceremony after the fact, and that there’s no way that the board could have foreseen it. The piece also explains that the football field on which the ceremony took place has been open to the public anyway, and that caps and gowns had already been distributed to the seniors for an impending graduation, whenever it would’ve been possible to hold one.

It looks like the Wayne student and parent body pulled a fast one — apparently through a chain of text messages, planning it all on the sly. And I applaud them. I’m willing to bet that the kids who had the gumption to make this happen will probably go on to be solid citizens because initiative, the strength to stand up for one’s ideals and the courage to question authority are American concepts.

Now it’s up to Murphy to decide if he wants to sue each and every graduating student, issue a retroactive summons, or just pout about it at his next news conference.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi's own.