Girls’ High Principal Lisa Mesi Demoted for Being White, Lawsuit Alleges

Former Girls’ High principal Lisa Mesi, who has filed a discrimination suit against the Philadelphia School District after she was demoted following a 2023 graduation ceremony controversy (photo via Philadelphia School District)

Check phillymag.com each morning Monday through Thursday for the latest edition of Philly Today. And if you have a news tip for our hardworking Philly Mag reporters, please direct it here. You can also use that form to send us reader mail. We love reader mail!

Lawsuit: Former Girls’ High Principal Lisa Mesi Says She Was Demoted for Being White After Graduation Controversy?

Remember that controversial Philadelphia graduation ceremony that went viral? No, I’m not talking about the woman who positively butchered the names of Thomas Jefferson University students at their graduation ceremony last May. Take your memory back a bit further. I’m talking about the 2023 graduation at Philadelphia’s storied Philadelphia High School For Girls, a.k.a. Girls’ High.

The North Philadelphia high school had a longstanding tradition regarding its graduation ceremonies: No hooting and hollering, no grandstanding, no excessive celebration. The school leaders liked to keep things classy and respectable, or at least what they regarded as classy and respectable.

But in June 2023, as widely reported in places like the New York Post, the Inquirer, the Daily Mail, and on the local TV news channels, principal Lisa Mesi denied diplomas to three graduates on the grounds that they or their families had violated the standards of decorum, which were reportedly announced at the beginning of the ceremony. One of the students did a dance as she walked across the stage, eliciting laughter from the audience. Another girl made a gesture resulting in some audience noise. And the other girl apparently did nothing, but her family hooted a bit too much. This is probably a good time to note that Mesi, a South Philly native who now lives in South Jersey, is white and that the girls are black. (The vast majority of the students at Girls’ High are people of color.)

The uproar was swift. Parents and community leaders made angry phone calls. Concerned citizens circulated petitions. People posted video of the relevant portions of the ceremony here, there and everywhere. And, well, Mesi came up with the short end of the stick. By July, the Philadelphia School District replaced Mesi, putting a Black woman in the position Mesi had held since 2019.

Many cheered the district’s decision. But not everyone. The Alumnae Association of the Philadelphia High School for Girls and the association’s board of directors swiftly issued a statement defending Mesi.

“The current media tempest regarding the temporary withholding of a diploma to a few students during the June 9, 2023, graduation ceremony is headline grabbing and click bait,” read the statement. “It does not reflect in any way the overall tone and tenor of the day. At the onset — and previously shared with all students, families, and other attendees — Principal Mesi clearly communicated the guidelines and regulations for the ceremony with an added dose of warmth and humor.”

But the district did not relent, and now Mesi is suing. In the suit, filed in Philadelphia’s federal court, Mesi points out that all three girls did, in fact, graduate and that they received their diplomas on graduation day after the ceremony. She says that many labeled her a racist and that “the School District, yielding to the unfair racial attacks… acquiesced to the false narrative of racism…”

Mesi alleges that the district wanted her to make a public apology and appear at a news conference to take questions from the press. She claims she and her family had been the subject of threats following the graduation ceremony and that after discussing the district’s requests with her husband, she declined to issue a statement or appear at a news conference. And it was after that, she alleges, that the district demoted her. The suit claims that her refusal to participate in the process also led to district officials accusing her of insubordination.

Over the ensuing months, while she was reassigned to a role that had her performing for district officials “simplistic and menial tasks not suitable for someone of her caliber and with her experience and qualifications,” per the suit, she applied for several positions within the district that she says she was fully qualified for; she was denied the position every time. Mesi claims in the suit that some of those jobs went to less qualified individuals, who were Black. Eventually, she says, she applied for a principal position at what the suit calls one of the lowest-ranked schools in the district, one that is in a dangerous, high crime neighborhood — “a position that was far from the top of Mesi’s ‘wish list,'” as the suit puts it — and she got that job in Feltonville, which she has held since August 2024.

The suit accuses the district of racial discrimination and retaliation and seeks unspecified damages.

The Philadelphia School District does not comment on pending litigation.

Battle Over the Bridge

An interesting legal dilemma is playing out in South Jersey. In one corner, you have a realtor who says he bought a house, renovated it, and is now trying to sell it for $800,000. In the other corner, you have a woman who is now occupying the house, claiming she rented it via Facebook Marketplace from the guy who renovated it. And the guy who renovated it says he has no idea what she’s talking about.

Here’s Fox 29 reporter Jennifer Joyce with more on this saga:

For the Food Lovers Among You

We saw some of our favorite restaurants close recently. (RIP Hawthorne’s, Autana, Bing Bing Dim Sum, and Pizza Brain). But 2025 brings with it some exciting restaurant openings, whether you’re more intrigued by something called dancerobot, Georgian food (no, I’m not talking about Atlanta and Macon) in Fishtown, or yet another ramen shop. Philly Mag restaurant critic Jason Sheehan tells you all about what he’s most looking forward to this year.

By the Numbers

75 percent: Decrease in homicides in Camden since 2012. Last year, the city recorded just 17 murders. And here I thought Philly was doing so well. This is the one and only time I think we could consider looking to Camden as an example of what to do.

2 inches: Maximum amount of snow currently forecasted to fall in the Philadelphia area on Saturday. Which means that the Ack-a-me should be sold out of bread, milk and eggs by 9 a.m. Friday.

5th: Ranking of Philadelphia on Zillow’s just-published list of the hottest housing markets in the country for 2025. That’s up from sixth place last year. In first place? Frigging Buffalo, which some say is one of the least desirable cities in which to live in the entire country. That said, Buffalo is home to what might just be the world’s only Italian-Polish restaurant. There has to be a joke in here about how many Polish guys it takes to make a meatball, but I’m on deadine.

Local Talent

If you love local music and you love David Bowie, then you must be very happy, because this week is Philly Loves Bowie Week. The annual celebration celebrates the late Philly-connected musician through art, film, karaoke, and, of course, live music. The whole thing culminates at the TLA on Saturday with a bevy of local singers and musicians. Here’s a handy guide to what Philly Loves Bowie Week has to offer.