Student receives diploma after initially being denied for wearing Mexican flag

The North Carolina high school student who was escorted by police out of his graduation ceremony last week because he wore a Mexican flag over his gown finally received his diploma Monday.

Ever Lopez of Asheboro was the first member of his immediate family to graduate from high school, but instead of receiving his diploma with his Asheboro High School classmates last Thursday, he and his family were ordered out of the building.

The student was able to pick up his diploma Monday from the school, where the Lopez family went inside to meet with administrators, reports said.

On the day of the incident, when Lopez’s name was called, he approached with the red-white-and-green Mexican flag draped over his shoulders. When he reached the center of the stage, he had a brief exchange with the school’s principal, Penny Crooks, which prompted boos from the audience. After a moment, Lopez walked off the stage and raised his fist as he returned to his seat.

The moment was captured on video and posted to TikTok by Lopez’s cousin Adolfo Hurtado, who said Crooks had asked that Lopez remove the flag and that he refused to do so.

Since the episode, the school has received several threats of violence that are being investigated.

Lopez, who was born in the United States to Mexican-immigrant parents, said in an interview Sunday that he wore the flag because he is proud of his Mexican heritage.

“The flag means everything to me and my family because it’s what is in our blood,” he said. “It’s where we came from, and I’d do anything to represent.”

In a second video that Hurtado posted to TikTok, Crooks, flanked by four police officers, is seen escorting Lopez and his family out of the school after the ceremony. “He and his parents can come back tomorrow, and we can talk about it,” Crooks says in the video, which has been viewed more than 7 million times.

Hurtado said Lopez and his classmates received an empty diploma holder at the graduation ceremony with the expectation that they could pick up their diplomas afterward, before heading home. It was after the ceremony that Lopez was told his diploma was being withheld, Hurtado said.

The public school district in Asheboro, which is about 70 miles east of Raleigh, said in a statement Friday afternoon that Lopez had not received his diploma because he had violated the school’s dress code and because he had “detracted from the importance and the solemnity of the ceremony.”

“Graduation is a milestone event and it is grossly unfair for one individual to diminish this event by violating the dress code,” the district said. “This incident is not about the Mexican flag. Students were encouraged to express their identity by decorating their mortar boards. A number of students followed the protocol and had the Mexican flag and other representations appropriately displayed during the ceremony.”

In an earlier statement, issued Friday morning, the school district said it would “continue working to resolve this issue with the student and his family so that he will receive his diploma from Asheboro High School.”

“He has worked very hard and we commend him on this great achievement,” the district said. “We are confident in his abilities and we know he has a bright future ahead of him.”

Lopez’s mother, Margarita, said Crooks sent her an email Sunday saying her son could pick up the diploma, but Lopez said she and her son wanted Crooks to apologize.

The Lopez family held a news conference Monday to continue to call attention to the incident, which they viewed as racist.

“To me, this was an act of racism, not just to my son, but to the entire Hispanic community,” she said.

A spokeswoman for the school declined to comment on the matter.

Hurtado’s videos of his cousin’s graduation, meanwhile, have drawn millions of views on TikTok and generated support for Lopez.

“She’s claiming that it was a disruption,” Hurtado said of Crooks, adding that his cousin had walked by several teachers and school officials before taking the stage, and no one asked him to take off the flag. “Who did it disrupt? Nobody said anything; nobody did nothing. The only person who clearly was disturbed by it was her.”

Kimberly Antonia, whose daughter was a few spots in line behind Lopez, said she clapped for him as he approached the stage.

“I thought it was awesome seeing a young person so proud of their country,” Antonia said. “With that said, I truly think this situation should and could have been handled differently. However, in the moment it wasn’t, and nothing can change that.”

Similar controversies

Similar controversies have arisen in recent weeks at several other graduation ceremonies around the nation.

Late last month, a student at Nederland High School in Texas had his diploma withheld after walking across the stage displaying the Mexican flag, according to reports. During the same commencement, two other students were also denied diplomas because they had on military sashes to showcase their enlistment in the Marines and Air Force.

Last week, a teacher at Hahnville High School in Boutte, Louisiana, loaned his shoes to a student who was told he couldn’t graduate because the sneakers he wore didn’t meet the dress code.

Information provided by The New York Times was used to supplement this report.