14 DAY TRIAL // It's a well-known fact that the selfie craze has taken over the entire world, but it seems that the University of South Florida doesn't keep up with the trend, as it has recently announced that students will not be allowed to take selfies during the graduation ceremony.
Next week, the university will award 6,431 degrees to graduates in a ceremony that will take place at SunDome facility on the campus, but this year's graduation guidelines have slightly changed.
The university's Division of Student Affairs is warning students that inappropriate behavior during the commencement will be punished. This means that students won't be allowed to take photos of their walk across the commencement stage.
“We respectfully request that you refrain from inappropriate behaviors when you are on stage approaching President Judy Genshaft and other dignitaries, including: stepping, marching, strolling and selfies,” a statement from the university says, as reported by My Fox Tampa Bay.
The college's administration even threatened graduating students with disciplinary actions, like withholding their degrees, if they engage in taking seflies with the president of the University of South Florida Judy Genshaft.
“A simple handshake is preferred. Your refusal to abide by this request may result in disciplinary action and/or the withholding of your degree,” it adds.
However, a professional photo of each graduate with the school's president will be taken on stage during the ceremony.
The school sent a notice to all graduating seniors, and ads are being placed in the student newspaper to inform them about the new rules. School officials remind students that the event is a serious academic ceremony and say that selfies represents a potential disruption, that's why they decided to prohibit the practice.
According to USF's own newspaper, the decision to enforce such a measure came after a graduating senior did an inappropriate dance on stage last May, when he approached the university president.
Moreover, the Dean of Students, Michael Freeman, affirmed that last year he saw some students hiding phones in their robes and then taking them out to snap photos with Genshaft, in a gesture that he labeled as disrespectful.
On the other hand, students think that the new rules ruin the fun of graduation, because a lot of people will be very excited walking across the stage to get their diplomas, and they would certainly want to immortalize the moment with a selfie.
As it turns out, USF is not the first university to ban selfies. Last week, Bryant University in Rhode Island changed its policy regarding the graduation ceremony as well.