28-05-2025
Senior says he was denied graduation walk after cheering at another ceremony
An area senior was barred from walking across the stage at his graduation ceremony, allegedly because he cheered too loudly at another school's event.
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Nicco Ryan was set to graduate from Archbishop Moeller High School when his mother got an upsetting phone call, our news partners at WCPO reported.
'To get a phone call while you're standing in line to walk into your son's graduation, that he's most likely not going to walk, I just burst into tears,' said Nicole Taylor.
Earlier that day, Ryan had attended a graduation ceremony for Norwood High School.
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The ceremony, captured on video, shows the moment that ultimately prevented Ryan from participating in his graduation ceremony, but according to attendees, Ryan wasn't disruptive at all.
Ryan said he was 'just in the crowd cheering with everyone else.'
He and his mother say Norwood school officials contacted Moeller, and administrators made the decision to prevent him from walking during his graduation ceremony with no consideration for an alternative punishment.
'I didn't feel like I did anything wrong — I was so confused just trying to think of everything that I did (that day),' Ryan said.
WCPO reached out to both schools to learn about their policies regarding graduation ceremonies.
Moeller responded, saying the district does not bring the press in on internal matters involving students.
Norwood High School did not respond to the request for comment.
'I was upset it was just... I don't even know what to think, it was like it wasn't real, that something so silly caused him to not be able to walk with his classmates,' Taylor said.
Ryan is the oldest of Taylor's eight children. She says she had been waiting 18 years for this special moment.
'I was pregnant with him when I graduated high school, so it was a big thing for him to graduate,' Taylor said.
Ryan ultimately received his diploma in the mail days later.
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