Rosemary Garett, Selinnet Vega, and Eliannis Rivera-Sanchez at the ceremony.
It had all the trappings of a traditional high school graduation — a podium, a processional, a series of speeches by school administrators who preached hard work and big dreams.
But the second Hillhouse High School graduation ceremony in a month was far from a typical end-of-year celebration.
Around two dozen people gathered on the second floor of City Hall Friday night for a make-up ceremony — an apologetic re-do arranged by the city after nearly 200 relatives were locked out of the official Hillhouse graduation last month.
Harp speaks at the make-up graduation.
“We’re here because we made a mistake,” Mayor Toni Harp told the crowd.
About 3,000 family members gathered in the school’s field house for the original June 16 graduation ceremony, a colorful celebration that capped a year of conflict and protest at Hillhouse. But around 7 p.m., just after members of the graduating class marched to their seats, the fire marshal called for the doors to be closed, saying the venue was filled to capacity. Hundreds of relatives — many of them sobbing — stood outside the field house, banging on the doors to the entrance as police officers patrolled the scene.
The New Haven school district apologized for the episode and arranged Friday’s re-do at City Hall, replete with a congratulatory sheet cake and banners emblazoned with the blue-and-white school crest.
David Yaffe-Bellany Photo
Ali Jones and Marlon Young at their second graduation.
The five students — Marlon Young, Ali Jones, Rosemary Garrett, Selinnet Vega, and Elianis Rivera-Sanchez — who attended the make-up were presented with certificates to accompany the diplomas they picked up in June.
In an address to the parents, NHPS Superintendent Garth Harries apologized for the lock-out at the first ceremony, and sought to brighten the mood with an injection of humor.
“We learn, we grow, we rise,” he said, praising the turnout, “even though we may not be in the full field house, call it the overfull field house.”
In her remarks, Harp emphasized the “positive value” of making mistakes and the importance of learning to do better next time.
Harries at the make-up.
It remains unclear precisely what went wrong at the first graduation. Harries told the Independent that he has heard a number of possible explanations, including rumors of counterfeit tickets that allowed students to bring more than the maximum of ten relatives to the venue.
The family members who attended the make-up represented only a small fraction of the dozens who were locked out. According to NHPS Communications Director Mercy Quaye, 16 of the 27 families that expressed interest in the second ceremony had a conflict, and a further six said they could come but did not show up.
“We wanted to do something to say to people that we’d like to make it up to them,” Harp told the Independent. “It may not be adequate.”
“For those who didn’t come,” she added, “they missed a wonderful ceremony.”
“At its heart, there is a gesture of apology in this,” Harries said after the ceremony. “It is not adequate in the sense that nothing can replace that graduation moment.”
Family members interviewed at the make-up ceremony expressed a range of emotions about the do-over, from anger at the original mix-up to gratitude for the city’s evident contrition.
Sarah Derbaoh — who missed the chance to see her little sister, Selinnet Vega, march the first time around — said she was happy to attend the follow-up ceremony but no do-over could heal the pain of the original lock-out.
Selinnet, she said, struggled throughout high school, transferring twice as her parents sought out a special-education program that fit her needs.
“For us to be there, for such a memorable moment, it was so crucial, so important,” Derbaoh said.
“It was upsetting. It was hurtful. It was a mess,” she added. “We couldn’t even peek. We couldn’t even see anything. We were stuck outside.”
Zoflarzoffer watches the graduation.
Tammy Zoflarzoffer, who stood outside the field house alongside her pregnant daughter, said she was grateful for a second chance to see her son, Ali Jones, march with his classmates.
“I was hurt, because he was like, ‘I was looking for you, mommy,’ and I wasn’t there,” she said. “I wound up crying when I saw the first graduate come out the doors.”
Harries told the Independent that the district has already begun working on plans for next year’s graduation, including a proposal to move the ceremony to an outdoor venue like Bowen Field, to ensure that all interested family members are able to attend.
“The reality is that the field house is already big enough,” he added. “We just have to plan for that overflow.”
Nice for the city and the mayor to have a do-over ceremony and to acknowledge problems occurred the first time resulting in some family members being shut out as opposed to the school district comment when the episode first happened about how an overflow graduation crowd shows families care more about education than before.