A graduation ceremony for nursing students at Howard University (a historically black university in Washington, D.C.) was abruptly disrupted and ended in chaos when angry family members who were locked out began chanting “Let us in!” and pounded on the doors.
This incident occurred at the Cramton Auditorium in Washington, DC, where the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences was holding its event.
1 hurt in chaos after Howard University nursing graduation ceremony reaches maximum capacity 📹: @Dream_Girl_MG https://t.co/BEL54p8OVJ pic.twitter.com/v82nASe5b9
— Allison Papson (@AllisonPapson) May 10, 2024
Because of the number of people gathered in the already packed auditorium, many relatives could not gain entry before the venue reached capacity. The situation escalated during the keynote address, leading to the ceremony’s cancellation.
Chaotic scenes unfolded as video footage captured dozens of individuals outside the auditorium chanting, “Let us in! Let us in!” Pictures from the scene showed that during the upheaval, a glass door was shattered as people banged on the doors attempting to bypass security to enter the building.
“While they were doing the keynote speaker, there was, like, loud banging, even before that, for like 10 minutes straight,” graduate Bria Flowers remarked to NBC Washington. “Just like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.”
This mother's day weekend Howard University shutdown graduation and blamed the families instead of taking accountability for poor planning. What did you expect when you have the largest graduating class and no headcount limit per graduate. Let them walk at commencement! pic.twitter.com/PipTkmr7D1
— Dee (@darling_daphney) May 10, 2024
Mid-ceremony, Dr. Gina S. Brown, dean of the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, announced to the attendees that the fire department had intervened to shut down the event due to the overcrowded room and disruptive behavior. “Because of the size of the room and because our relatives sometimes do not know how to act, the fire department is now here to shut us down,” she said (per The New York Post), which was met with a roar of boos from the crowd.
Contrary to the announcement, DC Fire and EMS clarified their role in the event.
“D.C. Fire and EMS did not shut down tonight’s event,” the department stated, according to the New York Post. “At 6:42 p.m., we responded to the Cramton Auditorium for a medical local at the request of campus police. The patient was evaluated and refused transport, and D.C. Fire and EMS departed.”
The abrupt ending left many students and their families in shock and disappointment. “I’m confused why it got so crazy, how it got so quick, so bad so fast,” said graduate Kiana Hamilton in remarks reported by the New York Post.
“I didn’t even get to walk. I graduated magna cum laude and I didn’t even get to 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,” she lamented to the New York Post.
Other graduates voiced their frustrations about the financial burdens their families faced to attend the event.
“All the money we spent,” an unnamed student mentioned, as reported by The New York Post. “My father and grandmother came down from North Carolina.”
Howard University acknowledged that security had to remove an individual from the building prior to the ceremony, who later returned and smashed a glass door. The disruption caused by this incident and the subsequent damage led to the disturbance among guests outside the facility, prompting an immediate dispersal of the attendees, according to Howard’s statement. Despite the chaotic end to their specific ceremony, some students had the opportunity to participate in the university’s main commencement ceremony on Saturday, and individual awards were distributed on Friday.
