The graduation ceremony for a Howard University nursing student ended abruptly in chaos as angry family members shouted, “Let them in!” When the auditorium reached capacity, they were locked out, banged on the doors, and broke the windows.
Relatives of students in the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences filled Cramton Auditorium in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, but not all of them made it into the building until the ceremony was abruptly canceled during the keynote address. .
Chaotic video footage shows dozens of people standing outside the auditorium shouting, “Let’s get in!” Let’s enter! ” when the ceremony began. Photos showed a glass door shattering as people banged on it during the commotion and tried to push past security guards to get inside.
“While they were giving their keynote speech, they were making loud noises for about 10 minutes straight beforehand.” alumnus Bria Flowers told NBC Washington. “Just boom, boom, boom, boom.”
School officials told students and their families midway through the ceremony that the fire department was there to quell the situation.
“The fire department came here to lock us out because the room is big and our relatives sometimes don’t know how to act,” said the dean of the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences. said Dr. Gina S. Brown. she said in response to a storm of boos.
However, DC Fire and EMS denied closing the graduation ceremony.
“DC Fire and EMS did not cancel tonight’s event,” the department said. “At 6:42 p.m., we responded to Cramton Auditorium at the request of campus police for local medical personnel. The patient was evaluated and refused transport, and DC Fire and EMS responded to I left.”
Students and their families were shocked and upset that things got out of hand so quickly.
“I’m confused as to why it got so weird, how it got so bad so quickly,” said alumnus Kiana Hamilton.
Fellow graduate Hal Raghunanan said the incident was especially heartbreaking for her and her family because she was unable to walk at her 2020 high school graduation ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I couldn’t even walk,” she said. “I couldn’t even walk. I graduated at the top of my class, but I couldn’t even walk. I’m a 2020 graduate. I couldn’t walk to my high school graduation, and I couldn’t walk to my college graduation. I couldn’t even walk.”
Other graduates lamented how much money their families had spent on their special day only to have it canceled.
“It’s all the money we spent,” an anonymous student told the station. “My father and grandmother came from North Carolina.”
Howard said security removed someone from the building before the ceremony, and that person returned and broke the glass door outside the auditorium.
One student was found with a cut on his hand caused by broken glass.
“This incident caused a disturbance among guests outside the property and resulted in the interruption of the program,” Howard said in a statement. “Following this incident, attendees immediately dispersed.”
Some of the affected students were able to attend the university’s main graduation ceremony on Saturday, and individual awards were presented to students on Friday.
