An Arizona college sparked outrage among the class of 2026 after the school’s new AI system skipped over hundreds of student names during its graduation ceremony – and then refused to give graduates a second chance to walk the stage.

It's bad enough college students are facing a job market where AI is forecast to eliminate the entry-level jobs graduates once relied on to climb the corporate ladder.

So when an AI tasked with reading every graduate’s name as they “walked the stage” somehow omitted hundreds of students during a Glendale Community College (GCC) ceremony, well, you can imagine the uproar.

AI graduation system malfunctions

With an estimated 900 graduates and their loved ones in attendance, the commencement faux pas took place on May 15th inside the Desert Diamond Arena in Maricopa County, according to the school’s website.

"Students go thousands of dollars in debt for education, and y'all have the AUDACITY to have AI read the names? All the money, hard work, for their names to either be skipped or read by a robot and not a human?? Absolutely shameful," one social media user posted on the GCC Facebook page.

Apparently, the students had turned in their name cards before the ceremony, expecting them to be read as they walked onstage to pick up their diplomas – a ritual many students cherish after years of hard work.

But instead, repeated malfunctions in the new AI system left some students walking in silence, while others were handed their diplomas as the AI read someone else’s name.

“The names being read during GCC’s commencement didn’t appear to match who was walking across the stage. Then the names at the bottom of the screen stopped changing. The ceremony was paused at least twice,” reported local CBS affiliate Arizona’s Family in Phoenix.

One GCC graduate, Grace Reimer, told the news outlet that she definitely noticed the absence of cheers when it was her turn to walk across the stage.

“I know my family is a pretty loud family. That’s not right. And it definitely made me feel uneasy,” she said. She eventually heard her name announced 7 minutes later.

“Lesson learned” sparks backlash

According to independent media creator Dale Flournoy, who re-posted a video of the event on Instagram, “many of the graduates who were skipped did not get the chance to have their names properly announced again.”

In the video, GCC President Tiffany Hernandez is seen awkwardly apologizing to the confused audience.

“Here’s what's happening. We’re using a new AI system as our reader,” Hernandez said as the crowd erupted with loud boos.

“So, that is a lesson learned for us,” she told the students, explaining that the botched ceremony would move forward without a redo.

“So I'm going to have to disappoint many of you. We will not be able to walk the stage a second time. In order to have the name on the screen. You've handed over your cards, so we won't be able to do that. I am so sorry,” she said.

“This is so shameful. Imagine working hard to earn and pay for a degree and at bare minimum your name isn’t announced,“ one Instagram user commented.

The school was forced to issue a public statement after backlash from students, families, and observers spread across social media.

“During one of our commencement ceremonies, there was a technical issue that impacted the reading of some graduate names.

While the issue was corrected during the ceremony, we are sorry for the disruption it caused during what should have been a celebratory moment for our graduates and their families.

We have also communicated directly with graduates to apologize for the experience. We are incredibly proud of all our graduates and are taking steps to ensure an issue like this does not occur again."

- Glendale Community College

Hernandez noted that each student was able to walk the stage and get a picture, “which is what I would hope would be the most meaningful.”

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