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.
The historically black university’s College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences graduation ceremony was closed before the commencement address after space at Cramton Auditorium in Washington, DC, sold out.
Family members of some of the graduates were seen on video singing “Let us in” as they knocked on doors as the ceremony began Thursday.
Footage showed a glass door smashed as angry relatives tried to force their way through security.
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.
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.
College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences Dean Gina Brown made an announcement stating that the fire department had canceled the ceremony.
“Due to the size of the room and the fact that our relatives sometimes don’t know how to act, now the firefighters are here to shut us down,” he said.
However, the D.C. fire department denied canceling the graduation.
The department said: ‘DC Fire and EMS did not shut down tonight’s event… At 6:42 pm, we responded to Cramton Auditorium for a local medical service at the request of campus police.
“The patient was evaluated and denied transport, and DC Fire and EMS departed.”
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.”
Graduate Halle Ragoonanan said NBCWashington She was heartbroken at not being able to walk to receive her diploma in front of her family, especially since she graduated high school in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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.
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.
She said: ‘I couldn’t walk. I graduated magna cum laude and couldn’t even walk.
“I’m the class of 2020. I couldn’t walk to my high school graduation and I couldn’t walk to my college graduation.”
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.