What was supposed to be a special day for high school seniors graduating at a ceremony in Tennessee turned into a fight among some angry Parents. The fight broke out inside the Bellevue Baptist Church where 500 students were getting their diplomas.
Cause of fight
Space was at a premium in the small facility. Therefore, parents arrived early to get the best seats so they could see their children march across the stage. It was reported that one set of parents tried to save five seats for their large family. Just as the ceremony was about to begin, another set of parents sat in the seats that were being saved.
The whole incident was caught on the video that showed two women throwing punches and shoving several people. One woman pulled another woman’s hair. Then a lot of others got in on the action by exchanging punches and screaming profanity inside the church.
According to a statement made by school official Jeffery G. Mayo, the graduates from Arlington High School were using the church for their ceremony. Mayo stated that it was unfortunate that the adults exhibited the behavior that distracted from the celebration of the students' accomplishments.
Because of the quick action of the Bellevue's security team, the ceremony went on as scheduled after one woman was handcuffed and both sets of parents were removed from the church by the police.
The two sets of parents were not allowed back into to see their children receive their diplomas. It was not revealed if the parents were charged.
Other graduation news
At this time of the year, there are many other Graduation stories that make headlines. For instance, Harvard University held a "Blacks Only" ceremony. BET reported that the ceremony was to recognize that black students have a harder time at Harvard than their white counterparts.
The graduation for blacks was the first of its kind at Harvard, and it took nearly a year to plan.
Another story that made headlines was that a senior took his pet python to his graduation because he claimed the pet snake helped him through school. Students who were seating in the section with Denzel Young at Texas Southern University’s graduation saw the 3-year-old ball python named Persia wrapped around its owner's wrist.
They thought it was so inappropriate for Young to have the snake at the event.
The university says Young had the snake wrapped around his wrist and could not be seen under his gown when he entered the building. When Young got up to walk across the stage, he handed the snake to his younger brother.
