I.C. Norcom to hold special honorary graduation ceremony for 1973 ‘Class That Never Was’

I.C. Norcom to hold special honorary graduation ceremony for 1973 ‘Class That Never Was’

Ahead of I.C. Norcom High School’s Commencement Exercises for the Class of 2019, the school is hosting another smaller, yet greatly anticipated graduation ceremony that is 46 years in the making.

Monday, June 3, at 6 p.m., Norcom will be holding an honorary graduation for members of the Class of 1973 who were reassigned from the school ahead of their senior year.

“Members of the Class of 1973 may not have I.C. Norcom written on the top of their diploma, but they have it inscribed across their hearts,” said Norcom Principal Dr. Laguna Foster. “This is the only way to officially welcome them as members of our alumni family and provide them the missing piece to their high school experience.”

In 1969, the Portsmouth School Board wanted to open an integrated vocational center at I.C. Norcom. It was determined in order to make that possible, a percentage of Norcom students would have to attend one of the city’s other high schools to make room for enrollment in the center. The graduating class most impacted by that move was the Class of 1973. In the close to five decades that have passed, members of that class still refer to themselves as “The Class that Never Was.”

In partnership with the school’s administration and the I.C. Norcom Alumni Association, the Class of 1973 will be able to participate in a full graduation ceremony at Norcom and participants will be presented an honorary diploma from the school.

At this time, roughly 60 graduates have already committed to attending the ceremony. Members of the Class of 1973 who would also like to participate should contact Kintrell Devin at 757-230-1424.

I.C. Norcom’s Class of 2019 will graduate the following week. The Greyhounds will hold their ceremony Saturday, June 15, at 9 a.m., at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. 

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