Police pursued a graduate from the University of Buffalo on stage at Sunday’s graduation ceremony for carrying a forbidden article while trying to collect his diploma: a baby.
The video of the beginning of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences shows the student, Jean-Paul al-Arab, which runs rapidly from the backstage to cut the graduate line and insert himself in the process, everything while holding a baby dressed in a cap and a real-blight blue dress.
Al-Arab was followed by at least two police officers and at least two people who seemed to be members of the University’s faculty. Unable to stop his sprint, Al-Arab shook his hand with enchanted graduation officials and stopped mid-stage, baby in his arms) when the crowd roared.
Then he was escorted off the stage by a police officer, he shows the video.
A spokesman from the University of Buffalo emphasized a statement to NBC News that the police were not called at the beginning, but there were already officers present as part of the normal security protocol.
Those officers “clearly transmitted the rules to Mr. Al Arab at the beginning, as seen in the video,” said the statement.
Al-Arab “ignored multiple directives of university events and UB Police, escaped from the officers and broke the starting rules by taking a baby to the start stage in Alumni Arena,” the school said in a statement.
The law was a violation of Buffalo’s beginning rules, he said, that clearly states that “only graduated students can participate in the graduation ceremony, including walking in the processional and crossing the stage.” The rules are in place, the school said, to guarantee security for attendees and to avoid interruptions during the ceremony.
But Al-Arab has a different story.
In a Tiktok published by the Al-Arab account and verified by NBC News, he said he asked during a graduation preparation class if he could walk with his baby. He said they told him that he would be “good.”
When it was time to walk, Al-Arab said, the guide changed and the officials stopped him.
“They tried to escort me, but honestly, the only reason why they let me go was for all of you who encouraged me and supported me, so thanks,” Al-Arab said.
In the subtitle of the video, Al-Arab explained that while attending the school full time, two works also work, one during the night, while taking care of her son during the day until the child’s mother arrives at home of work.
“And here I am, graduating, with my son by my side,” Al-Arab wrote. “We did it!”
Al-Arab sent an email by apologizing to starting officials on Sunday afternoon, said the University of Buffalo. He will not be penalized and will still get his title.
“The baby, despite crossing the stage with a cap and a dress, has not yet won enough credits to receive a diploma,” the school said. “We hope to see him on stage in about 20 years so he can follow in his father’s footsteps.”
