“Girl, Be Serious”: Supervisors Reject Student’s Thesis Dedication to Boyfriend

• A postgraduate student shared screenshots of emails revealing that her supervisors rejected her decision to dedicate her Master’s thesis to her boyfriend
• The lecturers argued that a romantic partner was not an appropriate dedication in a formal scholarly document
• They instructed her to replace the dedication with something more stable and universally appropriate, emphasising the importance of maintaining professionalism

The viral post divided social media, with some supporting academic professionalism while others defended personal expression. The incident sparked wider debate about the boundaries between formal academic standards and individual choice, highlighting how archived scholarly work is viewed within universities.

A postgraduate student sparked online debate after sharing emails from her academic supervisors rejecting her decision to dedicate her Master’s thesis to her boyfriend. The viral post, shared by @heiress_ke on 25 February 2026, showed screenshots of the exchange alongside a selfie and a caption explaining that both supervisors objected to the dedication.

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The student, identified as Faith in the screenshots, had dedicated her thesis to her ‘boyfriend, who has promised to marry’ her. However, her primary supervisor raised concerns, stating that a romantic partner does not qualify as a permanent academic contributor. He advised her to consider dedicating the work to something more stable, such as her parents, guardians, or perseverance, adding that leaving it unchanged would cause him absolute embarrassment.

Academic standards clashed with personal choice

The co-supervisor was more direct in his response. He described dedicating a formal academic thesis to a boyfriend as unacceptable and warned that it reflected poor academic judgment. The email emphasised that these are archived scholarly documents and should be reserved for individuals or institutions that made clear and enduring contributions to the student’s intellectual development.

The supervisors instructed Faith to remove the dedication and replace it with something more appropriate. The post by user @heiress_ke divided social media users, with some defending academic professionalism while others argued that thesis dedications are personal choices. The debate reignited questions about where academic formality ends and personal expression begins.

Check out the TikTok post below:

Here’s what Mzansi said

Sel Noir said:

"I dedicated my thesis to electricity, this invisible yet trustworthy companion, you're the light of my life, the power of my devices. Thank you."

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Vuyi said:

"Leaving this dedication as-is will ensure that I retire in absolute embarrassment."

Quornhub said:

"Wish my supervisors gave me this advice. 😭"

Brittanie said:

"Girl, what. The only reason I was able to get my degree was that my husband essentially did my last project the night it was due, and even I didn't give him that credit. 😂😂"

Tahlia J Elliott said:

"I dedicated my doctoral thesis to my high school vice principal, who told me at 16 that I should drop out of high school university pathway because I wasn't university material."

JaradNaicker78 said:

"He is absolutely right. Don't do that."

silly Dan said:

"I dedicated my thesis to my cat, and my supervisor loved it."

Big Billy said:

"Save your degree, save my sanity. 😭"

Rlyn said:

"Please, girl, listen to them, it's for your best. 😭♥️"

Szaffron said:

"Can we just admire the fact that they actually read the thesis to notice the dedication?"

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Katie! said:

"I completely misread this at first and thought your thesis was on 'boyfriends who promise to marry you' and their thought process or something."

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Source: Briefly News