A petition circulating online is pushing for Georgia Tech to allow students who are a part of a certification program to get the chance to walk across the stage at graduation.
According to Georgia Tech's website, Excel is a four-year college program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The program leads to two separate certificates and prepares students for career and personal success.
The petition on Change.org claims that since Excel is a certificate program, the students who are a part of it don't get to be a part of graduation.
Philip Murray, who is the current president of Excel's Student Advisory Board and a former Excel Student Coach, created the petition. The goal is to collect as many signatures by the end of the second week of April so that the undergraduate students participating in the Excel Mentorship Program can present the petition to the dean and the provost's office.
"I implore you to support our petition to have Georgia Tech Excel students walk at Commencement on May 4th and give these students an opportunity to celebrate their past four years of dedication to a Georgia Tech education," the petition reads.
The petition also said that the Student Government Association is on board with including the students. SGA passed a resolution to endorse idea.
"The SGA resolution already discusses as to why Excel is unlike any certificate program because our students undergraduate experience mimics that of any undergrad through participation in campus organizations, taking undergraduate classes, going to sporting events, and much more," the petition said."This way of thinking is counterintuitive and destructive of progressing society into the inclusive environment that every human being desires."
Georgia Tech officials told 11Alive in a statement Sunday that commencement exercises are dedicated events for students who earn bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees.
Although Georgia Tech said Excel students are still celebrated with ceremonies.
Read the full statement below:
Offered through the Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship in Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business, Excel is one of only 260 similar programs in the nation. The Excel program is one of many ways that Georgia Tech is engaged in the community. Georgia Tech proudly offers programs ranging from K-12 outreach to professional education as part of our commitment to lifelong learning.
We honor and celebrate the work of the Excel students, as well as the thousands of learners who attain certificates through our valuable and diverse programs each year. These programs recognize these students’ achievements in a variety of ways, celebrations, and ceremonies, but the Institute Commencement exercises are dedicated events for individuals who earn bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Georgia Tech.
The online petition is asking for 10,000 signatures. It already has nearly 8,000.
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