A commencement ceremony that was cut short due to a hot summer rain has a group of Georgia State graduates steaming.
Threats of lighting forced what officials are calling an "abbreviated" ceremony on Thursday afternoon. But there are no plans to reschedule that special moment for these grads.
"We made this decision last night with great reluctance because we know how important the event is for our graduates and their families," Georgia State University Don Hale said.
The president spoke and the students moved their tassels but when the threat of lightning became clear, they were forced to cut the ceremony short. That meant no walk across the stage.
"We are deeply disappointed impending bad weather did not allow us to conduct the usual ceremony and individually recognize our outstanding graduates," the university said on it's Facebook account.
And it's on social media that grads are striking back.
"No one knows how it feels to work so hard for something and to not have the moment to receive your due diligence!" Ra'Shad Johnson posted on their announcement. "It was done in such a nonchalant manner that left myself and the other graduates in disbelief."
He added that safety is important but that it should have been canceled when they had to leave earlier. Johnson and others are taking Georgia State to task over the decision and demanding a redo of the ceremony.
"There's no reason we should pay thousands of dollars to a university and not be acknowledged!" Monet Di'Ana said.
She said if safety was the concern, they shouldn't have been allowed to come out in the first place.
"You broke our dreams, it was a lack of respect," Jannette Salazar added.
The university's own policy for inclement weather states that the graduation is held "rain or shine" and will "only be rescheduled in the event of severe weather."
Officials are defending the decision no to reschedule or hold a redo since the biggest parts of the commencement did, in fact, happen before the stadium was cleared due to weather.
But some grads aren't satisfied with their answer.
"It wasn't just a failure to 'individually recognize' us," Hannah Washington said. "We didn't have a ceremony at all! We weren't even able to get pictures because we were being told to leave right after."
Washington went on to suggest her graduation fees be refunded.
Hale said this was the first series of commencements held at Georgia State Stadium. While they knew the complications weather could cause, they were hopeful that the new venue would serve well for the purpose.
In previous years, Georgia State had held graduations at other locations in the city such as the Georgia Dome - which no longer exists - and McCamish Pavillion at Georgia Tech.
