Social media fuels Ridley HS graduation controversy

In the age of social media, decisions sometimes have to be made in a heartbeat. Time is not forgiving, and neither are teenagers.

On the eve of Ridley High School's graduation, administrators were confronted with a controversy that rapidly exploded on Facebook. It seemingly resolved within a 24-hour period, but not without causing angst for students and administrators about graduation dress policies.

A month ago, senior Angel Hall asked school officials if she could wear an orange ribbon to graduation to memorialize her best friend Kayla Barnes, who died of leukemia in eighth grade. Hall had carried orange flowers, the color for leukemia awareness, to her prom and wanted to have Barnes remembered on graduation as well.

On Monday, after the last graduation practice and after the traditional caution from Principal Kenneth Acker about what to wear, Hall again asked about the orange ribbon.

"It kind of caught us off guard," said Superintendent Lee Ann Wentzel. It was suggested Hall wear the ribbon on her dress under the graduation gown.

An hour later, a Facebook post by Hall's older sister Mandy Lee Hall took off. The post has been shared about 2,700 times, with more than 550 comments.

Barnes "would have been walking and graduating if she wasn't taken so suddenly from a disgusting disease. It's not like she's (Angel Hall) asking anything special it's a tiny orange ribbon. Please share and hopefully with enough attention we can change there minds!" Mandy Lee Hall wrote on Facebook.

The school dropped the ball when it forgot about Hall's initial request, Wentzel said. Officials also wanted to check with Barnes' family to see about their wishes, and to think about a plan going forward. The school had honored the family's request to include a photo of Barnes in the yearbook, The Archive, Wentzel said.

A prepared statement Acker will read to students before Tuesday's graduation tells the graduates that the school wanted to work through a solution that is respectful to everyone's memory.

"The hours since yesterday have made many of us in this room stop and think about those people.  We would never want to denigrate their legacy," his prepared remarks state.

A new tradition, including an empty chair, will begin with this year's class, Acker will tell the graduates.

"This chair will occupy a place of honor and be forever recognized as the seat of those students who could not be present with us today," Acker's statement reads. The school will also have available green and white ribbons, the school colors, students can wear to honor anyone who could not be at the ceremony. Students will not be stopped from wearing other ribbons.

Mandy Lee Hall said that without the Facebook post, school administrators would not have responded the way they did.

"If this didn't happen, it would have stopped at them saying no," Mandy Lee Hall said.

She, her sister and friends have made 600 orange ribbons for the graduation.