By Sheryl Estrada
TNT Academy Principal Nancy Gordeuk, who made racist comments during the school’s graduation ceremony Friday night, said the devil prompted her hateful remarks. Rather than admitting she needs to confront her racist sentiments toward Blacks, she sought penance by apologizing.
At the ceremony, Gordeuk, the founder of an alternative school that serves middle and high school students in Stone Mountain, Ga., forgot to introduce the valedictorian, and attendees leftprematurely thinking the ceremony was over, somealready reaching their cars. This prompted her offhand comments caught on cellphone video:
“You people are so rude not to listen to this speech,” she said. “It was my fault that we missed it in the program. Look who’s leaving — all the Black people.”
Attendees gasped, shocked by what Gordeuk said, and began to leave en mass.
She also called a man recording a video of her tirade a “goober” and a “coward.”
Gordeuk apologized to parents via email:
“A terrible mistake on my part of the graduation ceremony on Friday night,” she wrote. “The devil was in the house and came out from my mouth. I deeply apologize for my racist comment and hope that forgiveness is in your hearts.”
The message was posted onTwitter:
/unfurls #NancyGordeuk apology. Tosses it in the trash. pic.twitter.com/hB2sbQQ0zJ
AFGlamLife (@AFGlamLife) May 9, 2015
In defense of his mother, and perhaps following in her footsteps, the principal’s son son, Travis Gordeuk took to Facebook to announce his readiness for confrontation, according to the NY Daily News:
“Yall n—-s aren’t talkin about s–t so if u got somthing (sic) to say come see me face to face,” Gordeuk wrote.
“If anyone has somthing to say about my mom and how she ran her graduation come say it to my face.”
The posts have since been removed.
Jada Gibson, a cousin of one of the graduates, was among those who posted videos of the comments online.
“It’s just very sad,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Gibson said each of the school’s 48 graduates had to pay between $250 and $300 for the ceremony.
Many parents and community leaders, including the Gwinnett County chapter of the NAACP, called for Gordeuk to be fired.
It was announced Thursday she has been dismissed.
“In light of recent events, the board of directors of TNT Academy has moved to dismiss Nancy Gordeuk as principal,” Heidi Anderson, chairwoman of the board of directors at TNT Academy said. “During the coming transition, we will continue to prioritize support for our most recent graduates. Moreover, we will continue our commitment to providing students with the best educational classes, transcription services and academic credit recovery possible.”
