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Pregnant Montgomery Student, Banned from Graduation, Walks Anyway
AP Via Al.com ^ | May 18, 2005 | AP

Posted on 05/18/2005 11:07:30 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A pregnant student at a Roman Catholic High School, told she could not participate in her graduation ceremony, announced her own name and walked across the stage anyway at the close of the program.

Alysha Cosby's decision prompted cheers and applause from many of her fellow seniors and dozens of others at St. Jude Educational Institute's Tuesday night ceremony.

But some murmured that her act was in poor taste and that it took away from the ceremony, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.

The father of Cosby's child is also a senior at the school and was allowed to participate in graduation. His name was not released.

"I can't believe something like this is happening in 2005. I feel like we have regressed instead of progressed," said her mother, Sheila Cosby. "My daughter has been through a lot and I am proud of her. She deserved to walk, and she did."

Alysha Cosby announced her name and walked the stage after the last senior named in the program was called. Her mother and aunt, Debra Blackwell, were escorted out of St. Jude Church by police after Alysha Cosby headed back to her seat.

"I really came to support my classmates. Doing this was really a last-minute thing," Cosby said after her family left the building.

The school's guidance counselor delivered Cosby's degree to her house early Tuesday afternoon, but she still wanted to participate.

"I worked hard throughout high school and I wanted to walk with my class," Cosby said.

Cosby, whose name was not listed on the graduation program, was told in March that she could no longer attend school because of what were described as safety concerns. School officials told her to complete her class work at home.

School policy states that the administration can decide if a student needs to be homeschooled based on medical safety, physiological well-being and social issues.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Alabama
KEYWORDS: bastardy; teenpregnancy
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To: Phantom Lord
There is something important missing from the story.

My guess is that there were already contentious discussion with the parents over this and they were told NOT to be there.

81 posted on 05/18/2005 12:42:43 PM PDT by ElkGroveDan
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To: pnz1

So A) She did what she wanted by getting pregnant and B) she knows what school rules are and does what she wants any way. Another example of if it feels good do it! How nice her mom is proud of he! She's pregnant - single and just getting out of high school and she's proud of her??? Gee what's wrong with this picture? Sounds like a lot of pushy bitchy lib type of women in that family and I note no dad mentioned!


82 posted on 05/18/2005 12:43:01 PM PDT by LYSandra
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To: LYSandra

The other article I posted said her father was stationed in Italy?


83 posted on 05/18/2005 12:43:54 PM PDT by pnz1
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To: Fatigued Mother
In the meantime, she doesn't need anyone else kicking her while she is down.

,,, spot on. The bottom line is that she's a mother and hasn't robbed a bank or used nerve gas on anyone. She's got herself into this situation but she's also qualified to be recognised for the course of study she's completed. As a pro-life endorsement the school should have included her name in the programme, at least, as a halfway measure.

84 posted on 05/18/2005 12:46:24 PM PDT by shaggy eel
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To: pnz1

So A) She did what she wanted by getting pregnant and B) she knows what school rules are and does what she wants any way. Another example of if it feels good do it! How nice her mom is proud of he! She's pregnant - single and just getting out of high school and she's proud of her??? Gee what's wrong with this picture? Sounds like a lot of pushy bitchy lib type of women in that family and I note no dad mentioned!


85 posted on 05/18/2005 12:48:54 PM PDT by LYSandra
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To: pnz1

So A) She did what she wanted by getting pregnant and B) she knows what school rules are and does what she wants any way. Another example of if it feels good do it! How nice her mom is proud of he! She's pregnant - single and just getting out of high school and she's proud of her??? Gee what's wrong with this picture? Sounds like a lot of pushy bitchy lib type of women in that family and I note no dad mentioned!


86 posted on 05/18/2005 12:49:21 PM PDT by LYSandra
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To: Phantom Lord

Funny, I didn't hear she bragged perfection.


87 posted on 05/18/2005 12:50:07 PM PDT by Humidston (Pubbies - GROW SOME!!!)
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To: martin_fierro

They let her wear that to the prom???? I see nothing wrong with letting her "walk" with her class to receive her diploma, but I would have sent her home to change into a more acceptable dress for the prom.


88 posted on 05/18/2005 12:51:45 PM PDT by Goodgirlinred ( GoodGirlInRed Four More Years!!!!!)
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To: Fatigued Mother

Not bloody likely.

What IS likely is that Sheila will have a new baby just at the time she thought she'd be sending her original baby off to college, while Alysha will behave like any other 18-year-old ninny.


89 posted on 05/18/2005 12:52:39 PM PDT by Xenalyte (End women's suffrage! Hasn't the country suffered enough?)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I wonder where Mr. Cosby was that the reporter couldn't get his comment for the story.


90 posted on 05/18/2005 12:53:27 PM PDT by Xenalyte (End women's suffrage! Hasn't the country suffered enough?)
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To: RexBeach

Yep. She was setting a good example by not aborting the baby.


91 posted on 05/18/2005 12:54:49 PM PDT by Goodgirlinred ( GoodGirlInRed Four More Years!!!!!)
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To: JBR34

I applaud you and your classmates! Way to go.


92 posted on 05/18/2005 12:56:28 PM PDT by Goodgirlinred ( GoodGirlInRed Four More Years!!!!!)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

On one hand, I can see where this school is coming from, and its refreshing to see a Catholic school trying to stand up for Catholic morality. I went to a Catholic all girls high school. Lots of girls got pregnant and many of them aborted their children. But as long as they completed the school's academic requirements, they were allowed to graduate. Our graduation ceremony was held during a Mass celebrated by the bishop. All the girls, those who had gotten pregnant and given birth, those who had murdered their children, and those who had remained virgins, participated in the ceremony and received communion. One girl who would loudly brag about how many guys she had done was even a Eucharistic minister! And this really bothered me. Yes we are all sinners, but it seemed that a line should be drawn at the point where people not just sin, but remain unrepentant and outright proud of their sins.

So I can understand the motivation the school might have for not allowing this young woman to participate in the ceremony. On the other hand, the fact that they didn't ban the father of her child from participating is extremely hypocritical. It pretty much destroys any moral leg they had to stand on, so to speak. Also, one wonders how many students that they allowed to participate in the ceremony had had abortions in the past. If the school wants to come down hard on sexual immorality among its students then it needs to apply the rules equally.

And there is also the issue of shunning this young woman even though she has chosen life for her child. It's a tricky issue for pro-lifers. We don't want to demonize unwed mothers so much that they feel they have no other option besides abortion. At the same time, we don't want to encourage out of wedlock births and act as if there are no negative consequences for having a child out of wedlock.


93 posted on 05/18/2005 12:56:56 PM PDT by sassbox
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To: ApplegateRanch

So did the father and he got to walk and his name was withheld. Not fair at all.


94 posted on 05/18/2005 1:01:34 PM PDT by Goodgirlinred ( GoodGirlInRed Four More Years!!!!!)
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To: Cicero
I'm with you. Yes, no, Yes, no.

We have been warned by another teen that one of our youth in the church is pregnant. Our priest announced it to everyone and has said that, though he doesn't know who it is, we will have a baby shower. She may have made a wrong choice but by remaining pregnant she has made a right choice.

95 posted on 05/18/2005 1:03:30 PM PDT by tiki
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To: Darkwolf
Since when does getting pregnant out of wedlock mean you no longer have "rights"?

Oh, so participating in a graduation ceremony is "a right," not a privilege? Noooo, that's not classic leftist thought, is it? Where did you go to high school where there was no possibility of being excluded from the ceremony?

As I wrote before, if everyone there who's a sinner couldn't attend there'd be no ceremony. She's just an easier target for the high-and-mighty--who of course are NOT sinners, oh no, they're all perfect!--to get on their high horse.

Oh, brother. I suppose you wouldn't fire any pregnant nuns if you were running the school, either? After all, they just sinned, and we're all sinners, and we don't want to encourage abortion, yada, yada, yada...

This situation is reminiscent of that Sacramento bimbo that ran to the media about how unfair it was that her daughter was expelled from a Christian kindergarten class after it was discovered that she was paying for tuition with money she made stripping. The school said she was in violation of her agreement to support the lessons taught in the school, and gave her the opportunity to take other employment they offered. She turned them down, and whined and complained that her daughter was going to miss her friends.

This incident in which the preggo student walked up after the ceremony would hardly be worth noting locally, much less nationally, unless someone decided that the school needed to get a nationally-recognized black eye. The MSM thanks you for taking the bait.

96 posted on 05/18/2005 1:04:27 PM PDT by L.N. Smithee (Freeping since March 1998. This is my blessing. This is my curse.)
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To: redhead

The School, I can only presume, is ultimately under the authority of the Diocesan Bishop? It is an arm, a parachurch ministry, of a Diocese - Yes?


97 posted on 05/18/2005 1:10:19 PM PDT by PresbyRev
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To: meandog
So she defied the tenents of a catholic education

Looks like she's not the only one who thumbed their nose at a good education.

Main Entry: te·net
Pronunciation: 'te-n&t also 'tE-n&t
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin, he holds, from tenEre to hold : a principle, belief, or doctrine generally held to be true; especially : one held in common by members of an organization, movement, or profession

98 posted on 05/18/2005 1:14:47 PM PDT by A.A. Cunningham
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To: Trust but Verify
I have a Catholic sitting in a cubicle 12 feet from me who thinks abortion is fine.

No, what you have is a CINO sitting in a cubicle 12 feet from you, not a Catholic, regardless of what he/she claims.

99 posted on 05/18/2005 1:24:48 PM PDT by A.A. Cunningham
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To: L.N. Smithee
"Oh, so participating in a graduation ceremony is "a right," not a privilege? Noooo, that's not classic leftist thought, is it? Where did you go to high school where there was no possibility of being excluded from the ceremony? "

Must be hard to read the computer screen with your head so far up your ass.

Thinking someone has the right to participate in a graduation at a school they pay to go to makes me a leftist?

It's morons like you who simply call everyone with a different view a leftist who need to get out in the world a little and see the horrors of true leftist thinking, not just using the word in your foolish way.

(DW)"As I wrote before, if everyone there who's a sinner couldn't attend there'd be no ceremony. She's just an easier target for the high-and-mighty--who of course are NOT sinners, oh no, they're all perfect!--to get on their high horse."

"Oh, brother. I suppose you wouldn't fire any pregnant nuns if you were running the school, either? After all, they just sinned, and we're all sinners, and we don't want to encourage abortion, yada, yada, yada...

Possibly the most idiotic thing ever posted in a thread on this site. Good going! And you manage to completely dodge the point, too!

"This situation is reminiscent of that Sacramento bimbo"

I see, you're another of those bluenoses who loves to bitch about any sex-related situation.

"This incident in which the preggo student"

What an insensitive ass. Jesus would love your attitude, sure.

".. walked up after the ceremony would hardly be worth noting locally, much less nationally, unless someone decided that the school needed to get a nationally-recognized black eye. The MSM thanks you for taking the bait."

LOL and YOU aren't talking about it? What a complete fool. Now go back to your perfect sinless world, where only sinless people live. God help us from your "I'm perfect!" bulls###.

100 posted on 05/18/2005 1:25:09 PM PDT by Darkwolf (aka Darkwolf377 lurker since'01, member since 4/'04--stop clogging me with pings!)
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