Standing up for her dreams

CNN.com ^ | 6-19-2002 | Melissa Sugarman

[Cagey]

Malikina got the chance to walk across the stage Wednesday.

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- All she wanted to do was walk across the stage and get her high school diploma.

Wednesday night, 18-year-old Masha Malikina did just that -- at her very own ceremony at the Philips Arena, attended by more than 1,900 people, most of them strangers, cheering her on.

[Cagey]

A great story from Georgia.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Thank you so much for the ping Cagey..........I think this Principal is catching hell for this "judgement call".........

[moyden]

Every educrat is a thug.

[Sir Gawain]

I think this Principal is catching hell for this "judgement call".........

I would probably be afraid of lawsuits as well. The current "sue everyone" climate is most likely what he based his decision on.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Every educrat is a thug.

Does that include your Profs at A&M?.......

[moyden]

Hmmm...

I don't really consider the college professor to be an "educrat", although the liberal ones are definitely thugs. A&M has its share these days.

Educrats are school administrators, state bureaucrats, and the like.

[mountaineer]

I saw her interviewed on CNN. I think she was most hurt by the principal's refusal to talk to her about this. She was surprised when the interviewer said the principal had said he feared for her safety; it was news to her. All he said to Masha was that there wasn't time for her to try to walk at the official graduation ceremony. She said she was willing to sign a release in the event she hurt herself, but he wouldn't listen.

[Cagey]

Thanks for the update on this story, mountaineer. This Principle sounds like a coward. Sometimes it takes guts to do the right thing and he was a wimp.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

Mountaineer - this sounds more like the principal came up with the explanation of it being "unsafe" AFTER she got all the publicity......I think someone is covering someone's posterior..........

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I saw a piece on the news tonight regarding this girl and they interviewed the principal.......he was sweating........the girl was adorable and I actually got choked up watching her make her way across the stage.........that principal is history.........