A 93-Year-Old Woman Finally Gets Her Diploma After 74 Years Denied

When Dorothy Liggett was in high school, personal computers and televisions were just wistful thoughts and the word "millennial" hadn’t yet entered popular vernacular. Growing up in a different time also meant playing by a different set of rules and Liggett learned that the hard way. Weeks shy of her graduation, the Ohio woman was excelled for the gross offense of being married, Timereports. According to school officials, she broke policy that banned married students from attending the school.

The school changed its mind a mere 74 years later when her daughter Janice Larkin penned a letter detailing what had happened. "When I read the letter, and did some follow-up research, I felt terrible for the way Mrs. Liggett was treated all of those years ago and wanted to do what we could to make it up to her," Superintendent David Jamestold the Akron Beacon Journal. "To have invested 13 years in school, to have been a good student and still not receive a diploma because of that, was simply wrong."

He hand-delivered the long-delayed document on Wednesday, which also happened to be her birthday. Her son, Donald Huston, says the gesture helped close an important chapter in her book. "Her one regret is no longer a regret. It is a fulfilled ambition. I’m really thrilled that she is finally getting the one thing she always told us she wished she had gotten. This is a special birthday gift. It gives credence to her entire life."

Better late than never.