Micah Price was allowed to thank the Lord in his graduation speech at Campbell County High School in Kentucky but forbidden from urging other students to do the same. He ultimately did both, and stands by his decision.
ALEXANDRIA, Kentucky (LifeSiteNews) – A Christian graduate of a Kentucky high school was reprimanded and temporarily denied his diploma after veering from his approved graduation speech to expand on his devotion to Jesus Christ.
The New York Post reported that Campbell County High School senior (now graduate) Micah Price submitted text of a graduation speech in which he would thank his “lord and savior Jesus Christ,” followed by “urging other Christians to stand up.” School administrators approved the thanks to Christ but asked him to remove the latter language.
When it came time for his speech, however, Price delivered the remarks as he had originally prepared them. “Class, before another word leaves my mouth, I must give the honor, the praise and the glory to my lord and savior Jesus Christ,” he said to applause.
“Who in his very words tells us he is the light, he is the way, the truth and life,” he went on. “Class, anyone in the audience today, I’m here to tell you that if you don’t have any of those things in your life and can’t seem to find the answer, then my lord and savior is your answer.”
After the speech, Price said, “one of the principals came in, tapped me on the shoulder, very politely and professionally told me that I was going to have to go in front of the board and explain what I did because I went off script.”
“I had that in my script, and they told me that I was; they said that it was a public institution; and they didn’t want to divide their audience or my audience because I was speaking,” he added. “I think it was fine that I thanked him, but going in and urging them to follow him and urging other Christians to stand up and talk about him might be the thing they didn’t want.”
As a result, he was denied his diploma at graduation, instead receiving it after the Memorial Day weekend.
“All speakers were told that going off their submitted speech, or any unplanned choices at graduation, may have repercussions as they would at any school function,” school district superintendent Shelli Wilson said in a statement. “Off-program choices such as speech, signs, and caps in support of any cause or religion, injecting inappropriate language, or political election statements could lead to something other than this outpouring of Christian faith.”
Price said in a TikTok video that he harbors no ill will for school administrators, who were “just doing their job,” but also does not regret his stand. “I do no one’s bidding but God. So, if anyone’s in the wrong, I am. I deserve to get punished,” he said. At the same time, he “serves a higher power” and would “do it again times two.”
Benign expressions of religiosity on public property have long been a target of secular ire, from prayer in public schools to religious monuments in courthouses to religious symbols in military traditions. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the “Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect an individual engaging in a personal religious observance from government reprisal,” even in public settings such as school events.
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