Graduation speaker replaced over Facebook post

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The class president at a Maine high school won’t be speaking at graduation because of a Facebook post in which he urges classmates to bring nonalcoholic drinks to a senior skip day outing “because some wusses need chasers.”

On the Class of 2014’s private group page, 18-year-old Portland High School student Charlie Gauvin also urged that “anyone who was going to drink should make sure they had a sober driver.”

Gauvin tells the Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/1hmkIWP) he wasn’t advocating for underage drinking but instead was advocating for students’ well-being. He says, “In retrospect, that was not the best thing to say.”

School administrators were notified of the post and decided the class vice president should speak instead.

Classmates want administrators to reconsider and chanted Gauvin’s name during commencement practice.

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Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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