GRADUATES of Howard University have had a new ceremony after the first was axed as families yelled and banged on doors to get in.
The original graduation for students of the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences was held on Thursday at the Cramton Auditorium in Washington DC.
However, after it began, chants of “Let us in” could be heard after the venue reached capacity and the doors were closed on the loved ones of those graduating.
People banged on the doors for “10 minutes straight,” graduate Bria Flowers told NBC affiliate WRBC-TV.
Meanwhile, photos show that a glass window had been broken.
“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,” Dean Gina S. Brown said.
However, the D.C. Fire and EMS department has denied that it shut down the ceremony, saying they were there to help someone who had been injured.
One student had cuts on their hand due to the broken glass.
The website for the Nursing graduation ceremony informed guests that “tickets will not be required” with first-come first-served seating.
‘TEARS OF SORROW’
Graduates were devastated by the abrupt cancellation, especially those like Halle Ragoonanan who could not have her high school graduation due to COVID restrictions.
“I didn’t even get to walk,” she said, per the New York Post.
“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 my high school graduation and I didn’t get to walk for my college graduation.”
Others shared videos of themselves in tears after hearing the news from the Dean.
I graduated Magna cum laude and I didn’t even get to walk.
Halle Ragoonanan
On X, formerly Twitter, one user shared a TikTok video of one of the disappointed graduates who was trying to fan away her tears.
“POV: your tears of joy quickly turned into tears of sorrow as your graduation ended early and you didn’t get to walk after 4 years of hell,” the text in the video reads.
“I worked too hard, my parents worked so hard to have this opportunity snatched from them.”
“Can’t lie, this one tugged at my heartstrings,” the X user wrote before adding that “these kids got robbed of graduation” and that the university “owes” them and their families.
‘VOICES HEARD’
Following a ceremony held for the class of 2024 at the Capital One Arena on Saturday, the College of Nursing and Allied Health services graduates were recognized and given their moment.
“We apologize for the events you endured this week, but we stand here to salute you,” the University’s president Dr Ben Vinson III said during the commencement.
In the three-hour ceremony for the largest class graduating class in school history, all of the 280 students impacted by Thursday’s cancellation were able to walk.
“We prepared so many students of excellence, you all, that there was an overwhelming support of family, friends, and loved ones,” Dean Brown said on Saturday.
“They wanted to get in so bad that they were breaking down the doors because that’s what we do at Howard.”
Justice Hodges, one of the nursing graduates called Thursday a “terrible experience” but was grateful to be given the option to walk on Saturday, he told Wusa9.
His mother, Mylove Tetterton came from New Jersey to see her son graduate.
Hodges recalled how Dr Brown told the disappointed graduates “After the commencement, we’re going to give you your degrees and all of your awards and we’re going to let you guys walk.”
“I feel very happy, I feel like our voices were heard and we were accommodated well. I thank Howard for that,” he said.
The U.S. Sun has contacted Howard University for comment.
