According to news agency ANI, the student has been identified as Jean Joseph from Kottar, Nagercoil.
The event was conducted in the VOC Auditorium on the university campus, where TN Governor R N Ravi, who is also the university chancellor, awarded degrees to students. There were 759 students, including 650 PhD recipients, out of the 37,376 students from 104 affiliated colleges and the university, who were to receive their degrees directly from the governor.
A video of the ceremony is going viral, featuring her bypassing the Governor and posing with the Vice-Chancellor with her degree. The clip shows Governor Ravi initially thinking it was a mistake before nodding in acknowledgement of Joseph’s intentional gesture.
PhD student refuses to receive her doctorate from the TN Governor #RNRavi at the convocation.
Manonmaniam Sundaranar Uni PhD student Jean Joseph has refused to receive her Doctorate from the Governor stating that he is acting against the #Tamil language and Tamil people. pic.twitter.com/FNzSRBeB60— Mugilan Chandrakumar (@Mugilan__C) August 13, 2025
Speaking with the media, Joseph stated that she believed Governor RN Ravi “has done nothing for Tamil Nadu or the Tamil language”. She wanted to exercise her choice in deciding from whom to receive her degree.
“Many others are more qualified to present degrees, such as the Chief Minister or the Education Minister. It should be the student’s choice from whom to receive the degree from. My fellow students appreciated my decision. If it were wrong, no one would have congratulated me. I don’t want to take my degree from someone who does not respect our land, language, and identity,” she added.
The event occurred amid ongoing tensions between Governor Ravi and the ruling DMK and its allies, who have repeatedly criticised him for his controversial comments.
Joseph received her BCom from Hindu College in Nagercoil, an MCA from Mepco College in Sivakasi, and recently earned her PhD in Human Resource Management from Manonmaniam Sundaranar University. Her husband, Rajan, serves as the DMK district student wing secretary.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
