Biden Finished 76th Academically in a Class of 85 at Syracuse University College of Law in 1968?

In April 2024 – just months away from the November US elections – a https://twitter.com/JangledK/status/1781472150018244879 https://twitter.com/LindaTraitz/status/1781442021955195223 https://twitter.com/SuzyLiberty2/status/1781323575506473079 https://twitter.com/DavidWohl/status/1781320703327064154 on Facebook, https://twitter.com/SueJ2024/status/1781412703791124521 and other websites showing an old photo of US President Joe Biden. The meme displayed the words, “Graduated 76th in a Class of 85.” Snopes was unable to locate information about who created the meme, nor did we find where it may have first been posted. Searches with reverse-image search tools showed few results.

One of the popular posts appeared as follows:

“Did Biden graduate 76th out of a class of 85?,” a reader asked Snopes in email. “Saw it posted by a friend on Facebook today 4/19 with an image of a grad that looks kinda like him shaking hands with someone else. Both in regalia. Black & white photo.”

This claim was true. Biden finished 76th academically in a class of 85 at Syracuse University College of Law in 1968. This fact was previously confirmed in decades-old reporting from The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post and others. Many of the dated reports publishing this news cited records that Biden himself released in the late 1980s.

The picture featured in the meme showed Biden with the Rev. William J. Byron, the former president of the University of Scranton. It was captured at the 1976 undergraduate commencement ceremony where Biden – then a US senator – received an honorary degree and addressed students with a speech. Byron died at the age of 96 on April 9, 2024, just days before the meme went viral.

The Syracuse University College of Law Alumni Association once published a letter mentioning Biden’s low placement in his graduating class. “But statistics often prove not to be the predictor of one’s abilities or prospects,” the letter read. “And, indeed, it was after leaving Syracuse that his life and career took off.”

On this same subject, Snopes previously reported on Biden’s past false claim where he said he finished in the “top half” of his class at Syracuse. That and other false claims about his past – including a plagiarism scandal – reportedly factored in his decision to drop out of the 1988 presidential race.

Snopes contacted Syracuse University College of Law to request records regarding this matter. We will update this story if we receive any further details.

Sources