People can learn many lessons from a recent debacle involving graduation stoles containing spelling errors that were distributed to families in Matteson-based Rich Township High School District 227.
The stoles, when worn, were draped over the necks of graduates and hung down to about the belt line. One side was printed with, “Rich Township H.S.” in all-capital white letters on red fabric. The other side read, “gradutate.”
That extra letter in “graduate” caused a lot of pain and consternation and raised questions about accountability and responsibility.
Families were understandably upset. How could something like this happen?
“No one checked this out at the printer when the job was completed?” someone commented on a social media post. “No way this should have made it out the door and into student hands.”
Sadly, though, about 600 stoles with the spelling errors were distributed and worn by students as they walked across a stage to celebrate completion of four years of high school.
“That’s messed up that this decision went through so many people and the ball got dropped repeatedly,” another person commented on the social media post.
Some were offended and felt insulted. Someone posted an image of an Urban Dictionary listing that defined gradutate as, “a lesser more simple minded version of a graduate.”
The errors were so obvious, how could everyone involved in the process miss the mistakes before educators distributed the stoles to families to wear at the ceremony?
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“When the box of stoles were [sic] opened, I KNOW the staff saw the typo,” a woman commented. “The issue is they didn’t care enough about the students [sic] monumental moment to correct the issue.”
District 227 acknowledged the mistake in a letter to class of 2023 graduates and their families.
“We understand the importance of graduation, a significant milestone that should be celebrated without such mishaps,” the district wrote.
The letter said the “hiccup” shouldn’t detract from celebrating accomplishments of graduates. The district apologized and said replacement sashes with correct spellings would be mailed to graduates this month, along with diplomas.
The district also said the graduation photographer would erase the mistake from images showing graduates celebrating their proud achievements.
“They are in the process of photoshopping [sic] all pictures,” the district wrote. “We will be sending out communication when those pictures are available for purchase.”
The letter was signed with an indecipherable signature above the words, “Communications Department.”
District 227 also provided me with a letter addressed to parents and students and signed by Ron Stoupa, president of Herff Jones, the vendor hired by the district to produce the stoles.
“We understand the disappointment you are experiencing at the culmination of your education and the frustration this created for all involved,” Stoupa wrote. “We regret that the products you received were not in line with the quality and standard you deserve.”
The company credited the entire invoice in full, Stoupa wrote.
Indianapolis-based Herff Jones is the nation’s leading provider of handcrafted graduation and educational products, according to its website. The company employs more than 2,000 people and has been in business for more than 100 years.
After WGN-TV reported about the incident, news outlets across the country picked up the story. The Kansas City Star newspaper report ran under a headline that began, “You had 1 job.”
Newsweek reported the incident, as did The Hill, an outlet that covers Congress and national politics. I’m not sure why The Hill was interested in a high school graduation ceremony in Chicago’s south suburbs. There may have been a surge in appetite for graduation stories after President Joe Biden fell on stage Thursday during an Air Force Academy graduation ceremony.
A search of “gradutate” on social media platforms revealed the story was apparently shared by dozens of radio and TV stations across the country. Many used the blunder to complain about Keystone Kops-like incompetence of taxpayer funded public school employees.
“How are we to have faith in our school districts if they can’t perform the basics?” someone asked.
“Welcome to a world where editors and spell checkers are no longer warranted,” another person commented.
“The incredible part is nobody noticed,” someone wrote.
The incident provides a teachable moment on several fronts. First, note how someone from the vendor accepted personal responsibility. An institution led by someone who says, “the buck stops here,” shows the importance of transparency and accountability during a crisis.
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Contrast that with District 227’s statement signed by the Communications Department. Accountability is lacking. Superintendent Johnnie Thomas should have signed the letter and taken ownership of the mistake.
I received the correspondence to families after emailing Thomas Friday and requesting copies, but he did not respond to questions about the cost of the stoles or how much the district planned to pay the photographer to Photoshop the errors out of hundreds of pictures from the ceremony.
The district was right to apologize in its letter, but something else was missing. The vendor accepted full responsibility for the errors, but someone from the district should also have accepted responsibility for its share of the failure.
The district was taking steps to make sure such mistakes did not happen again, according to the letter. But there was no explanation for why no one who handled more than 600 stoles saw the obvious error. That warrants additional investigation.
Clearly, parents and graduates saw the mistakes. Did someone say something before the ceremony? Did someone in authority direct that the sashes be distributed and worn anyway? Did someone hope no one would notice or decide to deal with the fallout later?
These obvious gaps in the district’s response raise questions about leadership, accountability and organizational management. Should a district employee be fired or reprimanded for failure to notice or promptly address an incident that made District 227 a laughingstock across the country?
At the very least, elected members of the District 227 School Board should ask Thomas why he didn’t sign the letter to the community and whether he accepts personal responsibility for the district’s failure to prevent such an embarrassing debacle.
Thomas earned $306,527 in 2020 as District 227 superintendent, according to a public salaries database maintained by the Better Government Association’s Illinois Answers Project.
Ted Slowik is a columnist for the Daily Southtown.