Greeley yearbooks recalled by administration due to offensive language
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
by Adriana Miano
Last Thursday, the 2012 Greeley yearbook staff began distribution of their always greatly anticipated final product: The 2012 Greeley Yearbook. After slightly more than 100 of the 700 copies of the yearbook that had been ordered were distributed, it was discovered that one senior had included in his personal statement an offensive phrase. In response to the discovery, Greeley administrators issued a recall for the yearbooks and temporarily suspended further yearbook distribution pending the correction of this error.
The administration fashions a remedy
Later that day, Louise Brady, the yearbook advisor who teaches in the art department, Principal Andrew Selesnick and Assistant Principal and Class Principal for the Class of 2012 Mark Bayer sent out the following letter through Infinite Campus to the seniors and the Greeley community.
Dear Greeley Seniors,
This message is for all seniors who collected their yearbooks today. Most unfortunately, we discovered only after yearbooks began to be distributed that one of our students managed to slip some offensive language past the editors and advisor, and that language appears on one page in the published book. We are already addressing the matter seriously and appropriately with the student.In the meantime, we are disappointed and embarrassed to have printed a yearbook that includes such language, and we will not be distributing any further yearbooks until we have a chance to correct the offending page. We are asking that all seniors who have already collected their books return them so that we may make the correction. If you will simply put your name in the book, and return it to Ms. Brady in the art department, we will make sure that you get the very same book back. Unfortunately, at this time, we cannot be sure how long it will take us to make the correction, but we will make it a priority to correct senior books first.
We apologize for this inconvenience.
Sincerely,
Louise Brady, Advisor
Mark Bayer, Assistant Principal
Andrew Selesnick, Principal
According to Principal Selesnick, only a handful of books were returned on Friday. And word on the street is that most seniors who got the offending version are hugging it tight and have no intention of returning it for “correction.”
Many students view the recall as an unnecessary course of action. “Personally, I think the recall may cause more problems than it would solve,” said Greeley senior Cyndi Bonacum. “I totally understand the administration’s need to correct the mistake, but no one I’ve talked to seems to be very offended by the language.”
At the Senior Awards Ceremony yesterday, co-editors of the yearbook, Colleen Powers and Annie Mester, announced that the corrected yearbooks would be available for distribution to seniors today. Class principal Mark Bayer explained that the offensive language had been covered with a black sticker supplied by the yearbook company that said, in effect, that the perpetrator was sorry for the inconvenience suffered by anyone due to the late distribution of the yearbook caused by “my poor judgment.” When asked if the sticker could be removed, Assistant Principal Bayer responded, “Not without ripping the page.”
The offensive language was spelled out when read vertically, using the first letter of each line of a series of simple declarative sentences.
Adriana Miano, a 2009 Greeley graduate, is a rising senior at Elon University, where she writes for The Pendulum, Elon University’s Student News Organization.
This is not merely a high school prank, it is and should be treated as a serious case of willful desecration of school property. I think the author of the offending poem should not only be liable for the cost of the recall and revision to all the yearbooks, whatever college he or she has been accepted to should be informed of this most serious offense and their acceptance be revoked for a year. Maybe a “gap” year or a year in a local Community College will teach this young person a life lesson that there are consequences to one’s actions.
“Willful desecration of school property”? Who are you, Tipper Gore? Seniors can—and should—submit whatever messages they like in their yearbook blurbs. It’s the school’s responsibility to glance over them for squeaky-clean family values, and the school failed in that task. By sending out a silly email and recalling the yearbooks, they only drew attention to a sophomoric prank and gave the kid what he wanted.
I think its hilarious and they are just playing the monday morning quarterback.
This incident is nothing new and will be repeated in many high schools in the future. The administration decided to call attention to an inside prank that few would have noticed unless it was pointed out to them. On top of that, they publicized an embarrassing event for all of the hard-working yearbook staff and their advisor.
Selesnick saw fit to approve a permanent, humiliating statement in almost every yearbook…yet he has done nothing in terms of demanding an apology from an apprehended student who writes hateful graffiti. Get your priorities in order, Selesnick. You gave air time to a situation that would have passed silently…yet you protect the anonymity of the real hate-mongers.
To the By Parent of two HGHS students, I agree with most of your remarls except you are besmirching the community college system saying that should be a punishment to attend such a school. As the parent of 2 students who have attended community colleges and have gone on to graduate from other institutions I am offended by your characterization.
I think the student should not be allowed to participate in graduation.
This is hilarious. All the administration is doing is bringing attention to the offending phrase. “Parent of two HGHS students” really needs to chill out.
Also, if NewCastleNow wants more traffic, they should run more stories like this. Stories like this and crime stories are the only reason why I (and probably the majority of the readership) goes to this site. Local news should be juicy and trashy.
I agree with “Parent of two HGHS” students but I don’t think she is going far enough. Most parents that I’ve spoken to do not understand the gravity of this situation. Not only should the offending student’s college be informed, but I believe that there should be a school-wide assembly in which every senior is distributed a desecrated yearbook and the offending student is brought to the center of the gym. The offended student should be handcuffed to a chair in the center of the gym and the other students will have an opportunity to throw yearbooks at the offender. Maybe then that student will think again about writing something offensive in his senior blurb.
To Greeley Grad ‘10:
Newcastlenow reported an incident that occurred and that I wanted to know about. Unlike you, I won’t extrapolate from my own interests to say that all Newcastlenow’s readers feel the same as I do.) Your idea of “trash” and “juicy” is way off-base. I hope you’re learning - wherever you are now - about what constitutes news and what’s trash. This isn’t it, kid. You’re pretty bitter sounding. Get a life.
