- Howard University canceled graduation an hour after the ceremony on May 9.
- Glass door shattered after family members broke into Cramton Auditorium
- Students were left in tears after missing high school and college graduations.
Devastated Howard University nursing graduates attacked the school after their graduation was canceled an hour into the ceremony.
We tearful students, who were unable to take the stage for their 2020 high school graduations due to Covid, left disappointed again after Thursday’s events.
The university was forced to cancel the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences graduations after the auditorium reached capacity.
Angry relatives were seen banging on the place chanting “let us in” and a glass door ended up shattered.
“I couldn’t even walk,” said student Halle Ragoonanan NBC. ‘I graduated magnum cum laude and I couldn’t even walk. “I’m from the class of 2020, I didn’t get to walk for my high school graduation.”
Howard University was forced to cancel a graduation ceremony after angry family members began banging on doors and breaking windows after the auditorium reached capacity.
Footage showed a glass door broken as family members tried to get through security.
Halle Ragoonanan missed both high school and college graduations after missing the former due to Covid
“All the money we spent, my dad and grandma came from North Carolina,” another student added.
TikToks posted from outside Cramton Auditorium in Washington DC showed students sobbing on the other side of the glass as they realized their families would not be able to see them.
“I’m a student here and I can plan a graduation ceremony better than your unprofessional professors,” TikTok poster Destiny Marilyn wrote.
“You all have an entire field that can be used, why would you try to gather everyone in one auditorium?”
Crowds for the ticketless event began forming two hours before the 6:00 p.m. ceremony, student newspaper The Hilltop reports.
The hall has a seating capacity of 1,500 and the 280 graduates were informed that they could each bring three to four guests.
“Because of the size of the room, and because our family members sometimes don’t know how to act, the fire department is now here to shut us down,” CNAHS Dean Gina Spivey-Brown said during the ceremony.
At least one person was injured in the commotion, according to D.C. officials. Multiple reports said the injured person was a student who was treated for a cut.
College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences Dean Gina Brown made an announcement stating that the fire department had canceled the ceremony.
However, the DC Fire Department has denied that they closed the graduation.
Some students expressed their anguish at not being able to walk at their graduation.
Firefighters later said it was not their decision to cancel the ceremony.
‘At 6:42 pm we went to Cramton Auditorium to receive a medical call at the request of campus police. The patient was evaluated and denied transport and DC Fire and EMS departed,” said Noah Gray, director of communications for DC Fire and EMS.
Howard later said in his own statement that they took someone out of the building before the ceremony and came back and broke a window.
The school’s statement said: “This incident caused a disturbance among guests outside the facility, resulting in a disruption to the program.
“The guests who attended were immediately dispersed after this incident.”
It comes as other graduation ceremonies have been disrupted by the war in Gaza.
Dozens of students stormed out of Duke University’s graduation ceremony in protest of guest speaker Jerry Seinfeld, who has supported Israel since the October 7 atrocity by Hamas and throughout the war in Gaza.
The comedian, 70, was greeted with a mix of cheers and boos when he was introduced before students carrying flags and chanting “Free, Free Palestine” marched from Wallace Wade Stadium on Sunday.
