A PhD scholar refused to receive her degree from Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi during Manonmaniam Sundaranar University’s 32nd convocation on Wednesday. She collected her certificate from university’s Vice Chancellor N Chandrasekhar instead.
"RN Ravi is against Tamil Nadu and its people. He has not done anything for Tamil people. I didn't want to receive my degree from him," said Jean Joseph, who earned a doctorate in Micro Finance. She added that she “deliberately” walked past the Governor, who was the Chief Guest. While Tamil Nadu’s Higher Education Ministers have previously boycotted convocations conducted by the Governor, this was the first time a student or academic had openly snubbed him on stage.
In a video that has now gone viral on social media, the PhD scholar can be seen bypassing the governor, who was standing next to the university’s Vice Chancellor on stage. Governor RN Ravi, who initially thought that it was a mistake, then moved ahead and tried to reach out to her, however, Jean Joseph conveyed that she deliberately walked past him through hand gestures. She then walked up to the Vice Chancellor and posed next to him with her degree for a picture.
Jean Joseph’s husband, Rajan, is a member of the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which has been embroiled in a protracted conflict with Governor R. N. Ravi. The party has repeatedly accused the Governor of intentionally stalling assent to Bills passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly, obstructing the work of the elected government, and trying to operate a “parallel administration.” The dispute deepened after the Supreme Court, responding to a plea from the state government, ruled that Governors and the President have no discretionary authority in such cases and must follow the advice of the Council of Ministers.
Despite this ruling, Governor Ravi referred the Bill to establish Kalaignar University, named after former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi to the President, exceeding the one-month deadline set by the court. The Bill proposes to make the Chief Minister, rather than the Governor, the Chancellor of the university.
