A graduation ceremony for Howard University nursing students ended abruptly and in chaos after angry family members chanted “Let us in!” ” and knocked on doors and broke a window after being locked when the auditorium reached capacity.
Relatives of students at the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences gathered Thursday in Cramton Auditorium in Washington, D.C., but not all relatives were able to get inside the building before the ceremony was abruptly canceled during the opening speech.
Chaotic video footage shows dozens of people standing outside the auditorium chanting “Let us in!” Let us in!” as the ceremony began. Photos showed a glass door was smashed during the commotion as people banged on doors and tried to force security to gain entry.
“While they were giving the commencement speech, there were loud bangs, even before that, for about 10 minutes straight,” graduate Bria Flowers told NBC Washington. “Just like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.”
School officials informed students and their families midway through the ceremony that firefighters had come to close the doors.
“Because of the size of the room and because our loved ones sometimes don’t know how to act, firefighters are now there to stop us,” said Dr. Gina S. Brown, dean of the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences. » said to a roaring response of boos.
However, DC Fire and EMS denied disrupting the graduation.
“DC Fire and EMS did not disrupt this evening’s event,” the department said. “At 6:42 p.m., we responded to Cramton Auditorium for a medical facility at the request of campus police. The patient was evaluated and refused transport, and DC Fire and EMS left.
Students and their families were shocked and distraught at how quickly things spiraled out of control.
“I don’t understand why it got so crazy, how it got so fast, so bad, so fast,” said graduate Kiana Hamilton.
Halle Ragoonanan, another graduate, said the incident was especially heartbreaking for her and her family, since she was unable to walk during her high school graduation in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic .
“I couldn’t even walk,” she said. “I couldn’t walk. I graduated magna cum laude and couldn’t even walk. I’m the class of 2020. I didn’t get to walk for my high school graduation and I didn’t get to walk for my college graduation.
Other graduates lamented how much money their families had spent to be there for their special day only for it to be canceled.
“All the money we spent,” one anonymous student told the station. “My father and grandmother came from North Carolina.”
Howard said security kicked someone out of the building before the ceremony, who came back and smashed the glass door outside the auditorium.
One student was found with cuts to his hands from the broken glass.
“This incident caused a disturbance among guests outside the property, resulting in a disruption of the program,” Howard’s statement said. “The guests present were immediately dispersed after this incident. »
Some of the affected students were able to participate in the university’s main opening ceremony on Saturday, while individual awards were presented to the students on Friday.
New York Post
