A high school in Mississippi is facing backlash after initially deciding to name two Black students as valedictorian and salutatorian, then later reneging and extending the honor to two white students.

A screenshot posted to Twitter shows Ikeria Washington and Layla Temple were named as Valedictorian and Salutatorian at West Point High School. But in a statement published on Thursday, the school also added Dominic Borgioli and Emma Berry to the list.

The district's Facebook page appears to be deactivated. 

Kierra Marcia, who identifies herself as a West Point High School alumni, was among the first to condemn the school on social media. 

"So my high school had a black valedictorian and salutatorian AND THEY WERE FEMALES and now since a white person was mad about it. They decide to call the girls back and let them know that it will now be two valedictorians and salutatorians. This is wrong!," Marcia tweeted.

The West Point Consolidated School District issued a statement on Thursday, saying there are two methods to determine a student’s class rank. The first method is known as quality point average, according to the district. The second is grade point average.

"A student’s rank in his/her graduating class will be calculated by averaging his/her semester averages," the district stated. "Based on the above statement in the handbook, a student’s ranking should be determined by GPA. However at Senior Award’s Day on Monday, May 24, 2021, the two students who were recognized as Valedictorian and Salutatorian did not have the highest GPA. Instead, these two students have the highest QPA."

As a result, administrators recognized Washington and Temple as the students with the highest QPA while Borgioli and Berry proved to have the highest GPA. 

"The WPCSD feels it necessary to recognize all four seniors at graduation," the district stated. "We apologize for any confusion and problems this has caused. The school district takes full responsibility for this misunderstanding."


One social media user, who identified herself as Temple's sister, condemned the district in a Facebook post. She said her loved one "worked her butt off in school and EARNED her spot as salutatorian of her class," then found out that she would have to share the title with a student who wasn't originally chosen for the honor.

"Not only is this not acceptable, it's disrespectful to the actual hard work both young ladies put in to earn their sports at the top of the class," Temple's sister said. "These two beautiful ladies dominated their class and are the BEST OF THE BEST IN CLASS 2021. They alone should represent WPHS as such."

Many more still remained outraged after the school's apology.

Some referred to a history of white officials adjusting the rules to hinder Black success.

In 2018, a Black student named Olecia James filed a lawsuit after she was denied an opportunity to be named salutatorian at her school in Cleveland, Mississippi. According to Mississippi Today, James' attorney said the student missed out on an opportunity to attend Ole Miss because she was not named salutatorian at Cleveland Central High School.

The lawsuit stated that "school officials lowered her grade point average (GPA) by reducing the quality points she earned from courses she had taken under the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at the former East Side High School." 

“If she would’ve had the salutatorian position, she would’ve been at Ole Miss,” attorney Lisa Ross said. “But she lost an opportunity to receive a scholarship because of what (the district) did. They went back on their word.”

Ikeria WashingtonLayla TempleSalutatorianValedictorian