Beginning with the Class of 2027, graduating seniors will no longer be allowed the choice of who presents their diploma at graduation following a 26-19 faculty vote in January.
Principal Jason Caudill said when he first joined the high school administration in 2023, staff members came to him with complaints regarding the graduation policy.
“They felt like it became…a popularity contest,” he said.
Caudill explained he has heard reports of teachers incentivizing students to select them as presenters, but he cannot verify these claims.
He added students often chose presenters who taught them during their senior year, which is unfair because the accomplishment of graduation also reflects the contributions of educators who teach other grades.
Caudill said he supports the change if it means more teachers will attend graduation, as some teachers stopped attending due to their opinion on the policy.
Students expressed feeling conflicted about picking a presenter in order to not hurt a teacher’s feelings, he explained.
That showed him students were assigning value to the decision that was stressful and unnecessary, he added.
Caudill said he will try to implement more opportunities for teachers to be involved in graduation in place of the policy.
What graduation will look like as a result of this change has not been determined, he explained, but will be reviewed by Student Council or potentially a larger group of students when the time comes.
Junior Flora Goldberg said she has started a petition to challenge the decision, as she strongly disagrees with the change.
“I feel disappointed and baffled that the staff or administration would think this is okay,” she said.
Goldberg said she hopes her petition will allow students to have a say in decisions affecting them.
Science teacher Scott Logsdon said he thinks students should have input in the decision because it is their graduation.
“It’s a graduation in celebration of their hard work,” he explained. “Their choice of how they like to see it done should be factored into the decision.”
Logsdon added he understands some teachers refused to attend graduation because they didn’t agree with the policy, but he has not missed a graduation during his 29 years at Bexley and doesn’t plan to, no matter the policy.
Librarian Mike Nolan said he supports the change and is glad to see the current policy removed.
“It’s not a healthy practice for our school,” he said.
Nolan said although he is honored to have been selected in the past, he is uncomfortable with the policy.
He added when some teachers are chosen frequently, it can create the illusion that they are better than others while there are many qualified teachers who don’t get the same recognition because they weren’t selected as often or at all.
Nolan said his and other teachers’ reluctance to participate in the ceremony can also come from the emotional impact when they are not chosen by a student they had a strong relationship with.
He added he has been the person responsible for collecting students’ presenter decisions and was often asked if they were allowed to choose multiple teachers.
Nolan explained many students probably have more than one favorite teacher, and limiting them to honoring only one makes the process difficult.
Sophomore Everett Gregory said he doesn’t understand why students weren’t given the opportunity to provide input on the decision, especially considering the administration recently requested student input concerning the selection of a new assistant principal.
“An email was sent out…asking for student feedback about a new assistant principal, so I don’t see why this situation doesn’t deserve our feedback,” Gregory said.
Social studies teacher Michael Featherstone said he does not support the change because he values having a final personal moment of closure with students at the ceremony.
Featherstone added he has had the privilege of giving diplomas to many students but acknowledged his opinion might be different if he had been less involved.
“If I only had one or two kids, my opinion would probably change,” he said. “That’s just human nature.”
Featherstone added he hopes to see teachers included in meaningful ways in future ceremonies.
Sophomore Evie Ey said she is frustrated she won’t have the same opportunity to choose her diploma presenter like other classes have.
A better approach would be to retain the tradition until the current freshman class’ graduation, she explained, while communicating to incoming freshmen the change will be implemented beginning with their graduating year.
It would be easier for them to part with the tradition than it will be for current high schoolers who may have already been considering who they would choose, Ey said.
Published and digitized May 2026.