Board members upset when valedictorians thank parents in Vietnamese
HOUMA, La. (AP) — School officials in Terrebonne Parish are considering a policy that would require all commencement speeches to be in English.
The proposal comes after Hue and Cindy Vo, cousins who were co-valedictorians at Ellender High School, delivered part of their commencement addresses last month in Vietnamese.
Cindy Vo, the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, spoke about high-school memories, friends and the future. Then Ms. Vo, 18, recited a sentence in Vietnamese dedicated to her parents, as they watched. She told classmates that the line, roughly translated, was a command to always be your own person.
Cindy Vo says in the article that her parents don’t speak fluent Vietnemese.
QUESTION: Are the board members overreacting? Should students be able to send a personal “thank you” to their families in their native tongue at school ceremonies?
* This story was originally published as a post from the blog "The Vox Box." Read all stories from this blog