A Malawian woman set her college degree on fire in frustration, and the institution responded by completely invalidating her educational achievement.
The situation stems from a TikTok that was uploaded by a college graduate, who has been identified as Bridget Thapwile Soko by the Nyasa Times, a Malawian news publication.
The video in question shows Soko setting her Bachelor’s in Business Administration degree aflame, and this was supposedly done out of frustration related to unemployment.
A university in Malawi has revoked a woman’s degree, after she burned her certificate on TikTok for not being able to get a job with the certificate. pic.twitter.com/7klDEE2RMG
— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) October 25, 2022
While she may have burned her college degree, she’s still on the record as a graduate, right?
Well, it turns out that Dr. Desmond W. Bikoko, the president of Exploits University, caught wind of Soko’s social media upload and was less-than-pleased.
In fact, Bikoko was so outraged that he reportedly revoked Soko’s degree.
all those years wasted because of a momentary lapse in judgement. 🥲
— Jasmine K. (@glacier_heart) October 25, 2022
“We have learnt with disappointment that you recorded a video clip burning a degree that we awarded to you upon completion of your studies with Exploits University and posted to social media,” a photo of the letter reads.
“It is our interpretation that you did this to disgrace and tarnish the image of the university. The university is therefore revoking the degree of business administration awarded to you,” the notice continued. “Consequently, you are no longer a graduate of Exploits University and as such your degree certificate is invalidated with immediate effect.”
Once this news began to spread, people began to express their discontent with how Exploits University handled the situation.
“The reaction of the university actually brings the institution into disrepute,” a Facebook user named Kondwani Chirembo said of the decision, the Nyasa Times reports.
“Revoking a degree is a serious matter that cannot be driven by emotions. This has been a big fail by the university if that letter is genuine,” Chirembo added.
The Nyasa Times notes that another user named Francis Chiumia shared similar sentiments, pointing out that “this is not an honorary degree and what she has committed is not academic misconduct.”
There are no further updates to the situation at this time.
