Jean Joseph, a PhD student at Manonmaniam Sundaranar University and wife of DMK Nagercoil Deputy Secretary M. Rajan, refused to receive her doctorate from Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi during the university’s 32nd convocation on Wednesday. She accepted the degree from Vice Chancellor Chandrasekar instead. A video of the incident shows Governor Ravi smiling awkwardly and gesturing for Joseph to stand next to him. The clip quickly went viral on social media.
Joseph, who earned her doctorate in microfinance, later explained her decision. She said she did not want to receive the degree from the governor because, in her view, he was acting against Tamil Nadu and the Tamil people. A senior professor told NDTV that initially they believed she wanted the degree from the vice chancellor. “Only later did we realize she did it on purpose,” the professor said.
Reacting to Joseph’s refusal, BJP state vice president K. Annamalai criticized the act as a “deplorable drama” staged by DMK members to gain political attention. He accused the party of using educational institutions for political purposes and urged Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to advise members against politicizing schools and universities.