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By Leonardo Blair
Five days after he graduated from Campbell County High School in Kentucky, Micah Price finally received his diploma from school officials Wednesday after it was withheld because he went off script in his commencement speech last Friday and encouraged his classmates to find Christ.
Price’s defiance of school rules has been the subject of a feverish debate online since a video of his speech went viral, with many Christian supporters praising him with words such as “brave.”
Superintendent Shelli Wilson told WKRC that Price was selected by his principal to deliver an approved speech that allowed him to thank his “Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” but not proselytize. However, Price urged his classmates to find Christ, telling them “He is the light. He is the way, the truth and the life,” a paraphrase of John 14:6.
“I was told beforehand I wasn’t allowed to bring up Christ, that He is the way, the truth, and the life in my speech,” Price said on TikTok after the event.
“I did anyways, and after the speech was over, one of the principals came and tapped me on the shoulder very politely and professionally and told me I was going to have to go in front of the board and explain what I did because I went off script,” he added.
As he waited in the days following his speech to meet with school officials, Price said people offered to stand with him before the board. He urged them not to support him but the message of Jesus. He also insisted that the school officials did nothing wrong and were just simply doing their job in reprimanding him for going off script.
He eventually learned that he would not have to meet with the entire school board for his speech, only the principals.
Shortly after meeting on Wednesday, he was beaming with his diploma in an interview with Chelsea Sick of WKRC.
“It was a very quick and painless process. Went into this very short meeting with two principals. They were very professional in everything they did very kind. … An answered prayer. We got the diploma,” he declared.
When asked about the social media firestorm over the delay in getting his diploma, Price said he knew his witness was against the rules but felt compelled to share more about the goodness of God in his life.
“I did go against the rules. I should have been punished which I do agree with,” he said. “I simply cannot go anywhere without mentioning what my Lord and Savior has done for me and just what he’s brought to me and my life. I did deserve to be punished but through Christ we prevail.”
Price, who will be joining the Air Force in July, told Fox 19 that delivering a graduation speech that honors God has been a goal of his since the fifth grade.
“I always wanted to give it,” Price said. “I prayed about it a lot.”
His conviction grew stronger when he became a devoted Baptist in the eighth grade, and last Friday, he said he was prepared to pay the price for the message he delivered.
“My Lord and Savior is your answer,” Price said in his speech. “He will give you the truth, the way, and the light. I must give the honor, the praise, and the glory to Jesus Christ.”