High School Graduate’s Diploma Withheld After Delivering Religious Speech

This arti­cle explores a recent inci­dent in Ken­tucky where a high school grad­u­ate, Mic­ah Price, was ini­tial­ly denied his diplo­ma for deliv­er­ing a reli­gious speech dur­ing his grad­u­a­tion ceremony.

Price, a grad­u­ate of Camp­bell Coun­ty High School, received per­mis­sion to acknowl­edge his faith in his pre-approved speech. How­ev­er, dur­ing the cer­e­mo­ny, he went beyond the approved con­tent, urg­ing his class­mates to embrace Christianity.

School offi­cials, who had allowed a brief men­tion of faith, took issue with Price’s unscript­ed remarks. They explained their pol­i­cy pro­hibits pro­mot­ing spe­cif­ic caus­es, reli­gions, or polit­i­cal agen­das dur­ing graduation.

Price, how­ev­er, defend­ed his actions, claim­ing he felt com­pelled to share his faith. He even argued that the ini­tial­ly approved speech con­tained more exten­sive reli­gious con­tent that the school request­ed him to remove.

The inci­dent sparked debate regard­ing free speech and reli­gious expres­sion in pub­lic schools. While Price ulti­mate­ly received his diplo­ma, the school board­’s actions drew crit­i­cism from those who believe his speech was pro­tect­ed by the First Amendment.