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Culture > News

Valedictorian Mic Was Cut When She Began To Talk About Sexual Assault On Campus

Carissa Dunlap

Seventeen-year-old Lulabel Seitz was the first to graduate high school in her family and was valedictorian at Petaluma High School in northern California. Though, Seitz mic was abruptly cut in the middle of her valedictorian speech on June 2nd just as she was beginning to speak on alleged sexual assaults on campus, specifically her own, according to Huffington Post.

“The class of 2018 has demonstrated time and time again that we may be a new generation, but we are not too young to speak up, to dream and to create change, which is why, even when some people on this campus, those same people -” Seitz said right before school officials cut her mic.

When she realized her mic had been muted, Seitz moved to the end of the stage to continue her speech. All of her classmates proceeded to chant the phrase, “Let her speak” repeatedly as they stood and applauded.

Seitz told CBS San Francisco Station KPIX-TV that she was sexually assaulted by another student, and even by though she reported it, the school did not take action.

“The school continually censors students. It wasn’t an easy thing to do to go up there and say what I said or tried to say.”

She was warned by school officials to not discuss her assault in any way during her valedictorian speech, but she did it anyway, Seitz told CNN.

“They specifically told me not to mention how they handled my sexual assault case and other sexual assault cases in general,” she also told NPR.

Seitz published her full and uncensored speech on YouTube following the graduation ceremony, and it has since gained more than 200,000 views.

In the introduction of her video she writes, “The Petaluma High School Administration infringed on my freedom of speech and prevented a whole graduating class from having their message delivered. For weeks, they have threatened me against ‘speaking against them’ in my speech. Sometimes we know what’s right and have to do it despite the threats.”

So many on Twitter have shared their support for Seitz.




Carissa Dunlap is a Her Campus News X Social Intern for Summer 2018. She is a current Publishing major and Journalism minor at Emerson College (Class of 2020). When she isn't perusing the YA bookshelf at the bookstore, she can be found watching dog videos on Facebook, at her favorite coffee shops, or relaxing on the beach. Follow her on Instagram @dunlapcarissa or Twitter @Caridunlap.