Micah Price got his high-school diploma on Wednesday — five days after the rest of his classmates.The Kentucky teenager had his diploma withheld for professing his Baptist faith in his graduation-ceremony closing speech.According to
Cincinnati CBS affiliate WKRC, citing Superintendent Shelli Wilson, the school had approved “I must give the honor, and the praise and the glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” at the beginning of the speech and no further religious references.“My Lord and Savior is your answer,” Mr. Price said as part of a minute-long testimony.
“I knew it was going to be held,” he said. “Before you do anything, they tell us if you go up there and do a cartwheel or something stupid, that will get your diploma held.” And according to Mr. Price, he knew the school didn’t want him to mention religion. He had submitted eight drafts and was told to take out religion-focused sections.“I simply cannot hold back what Christ has done in my life,” Mr. Price told WXIX, a Baptist who underwent a “born again” experience in the eighth grade. “He’s everything to me.”
Mr. Price told the station he will join the Air Force in July and that the diploma flap has him considering ministry.