Damn you SDSU!

I received my diploma from SDSU last month. I’m not one for mementos and trophies and the like, so for the first few weeks it rested by my bed, acting as a nightstand cover for my retainer. Taking the piss out of people who are overly concerned with what’s essentially a piece of paper, I decided to hang my diploma up on my wall sans frame and with a single piece of clear tape a few days ago.

I posted a picture of my frameless diploma on Facebook. A few comments in, a girl I’m dating pointed out a misspelling. I poured over every letter several times, finally finding the error: Yep, my last name is missing an “L.” Apparently I’m a “Whitock.” I’m sure many people would be offended, but I find this really funny.

Yet I’m not so sure this was an innocent error. Perhaps I rocked the boat too much at The Daily Aztec. Mormon interests, tired of being gently mocked by someone with insight into their opaque culture, pulled strings at the graduation department to get revenge. Maybe the mistake is bigger than me? I know some journalism professors aren’t very popular with the school. This could be a subtle “fuck you” to the journalism department from the rest of SDSU. As one of my facebook friends said, “good thing we go to school to learn how to avoid factual errors and then… get to hang one up. I heart journalism.”

What to do with the diploma? I think I’m going to order an amended one with my actual name. But only to prove to the doubtful that I actually graduated. The faulty one, the one immortalizing “Whitock” - I think I’m going to frame and re-hang. Mainly to remind myself that higher powers and religions can only be made fun of and dragged through the mud for so long. Eventually they’ll get back up, revitalized and ready to retaliate, striking with resources I can only imagine… Score one for the Mormons and faculty members at SDSU.