WATCH | Honours graduate struts her inner Beyonce before chief justice

17 April 2018 - 15:57 By Suthentira Govender
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University of KwaZulu-Natal honours graduate Chrysantha Palan captivated the audience when she strutted across the stage during her graduation ceremony on April 16 2018. Palan graduated cum laude ...

How to graduate in style? Just ask University of KwaZulu-Natal honours graduate Chrysantha Palan‚ who used the stage as her catwalk at her graduation ceremony on Monday.

The sassy Palan‚ who graduated cum laude in BA Honours: Media Studies‚ had students‚ academics as well as Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng - who also wears the UKZN chancellor cap - in stitches with her on-stage antics‚ which were captured on video and has since gone viral on social media platforms.

The video shows a stylish Palan‚ dressed in her graduation gown and a navy blue trimmed dress with white tassels - which she stitched herself - strutting across the stage in her silver heels and sunglasses‚ parading her outfit‚ to cheers from the crowd.

She then eventually kneels before a rather amused Mogoeng‚ who confers her degree on her.

“I think I channelled my inner Beyonce... she just came out when I heard the audience cheering me on. This was planned but not really. I did plan to strut‚ but not so dramatically‚” the bubbly Durban North 22-year-old told TimesLIVE.

“My dad took the video and sent it to me after the ceremony. I shared it with my friends on social media and went out for lunch with my mum.

“I came back home and everybody was saying to me I was trending and the video had gone viral.

“It was planned but it wasn’t. Everybody who knows me‚ knows I’m very bubbly‚ I’m very dramatic and crazy.

“This was special degree to me. At the start of my honours I boasted to everyone that I was going to graduate cum laude. You know when you’re boasting and you don’t make it‚ you look like a sore loser. So I really had to study hard.”

On using the stage as her catwalk‚ Palan said she was “very happy in the moment”.

“When my name was announced‚ the crowd went crazy before I could even set foot. I was feeling the crowd. I was just being myself.

“Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng was laughing‚ he couldn’t stop smiling. I had everyone in stitches.

“People just couldn’t stop taking pictures of me. It was like instant fame…”

The video received more than 50‚000 views‚ while Palan’s own Facebook post was viewed over 28‚000 times and a Facebook meme and jokes page Dala u Crew got more than 30‚000 views.

“It’s been amazing..”

Palan’s research gave insight into Durban’s thrifting culture and looked at its popularity among students who don’t follow fashion trends.


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