Howard University Cancels Graduation Mid-Ceremony After Furious Family Members Pound on Doors, Smash Window

A graduation ceremony for nursing students at Howard University ended abruptly and in chaos after angry family members chanted “Let us in!” and pounded on the doors and smashed a window after being locked out when the auditorium hit capacity.

Loved ones of students in the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences packed into the Cramton Auditorium in Washington, DC, on Thursday, but not all relatives made it inside the building before the ceremony was abruptly canceled during the keynote address.

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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

Howard University Nursing Graduation ceremony abruptly shut down after auditorium reached capacity and family’s were banging on the doors to get in.

“I didn’t 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… pic.twitter.com/FRI7L4y7N3

— KK Berd 🇺🇸 (@keny_berd) May 12, 2024

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“While they were doing the keynote speaker, there was, like, loud banging, even before that, for like 10 minutes straight,” graduate Bria Flowers told NBC Washington. “Just like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.”

School officials told students and their families mid-ceremony that the fire department had come to shut things down.

“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,” Dr. Gina S. Brown, dean of the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, said to a roaring response of boos.

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