Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Howard University Cancels Graduation MID-CEREMONY in Chaotic Scene (No, nothing to do with Pro-Hamas protest)
Red State ^ | 05/12/2024 | Bob Hoge

Posted on 05/12/2024 6:53:41 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

Nope, it's not what you think. It wasn't pro-Hamas protesters—this time.

We’ve seen anti-Israel protests at several graduations, and we’ve seen commencement ceremonies canceled altogether as some universities bent their knee to the demonstrators—but we haven’t seen this before.

A graduation ceremony for nursing students at Howard University in Washington D.C. was canceled right in the middle of the keynote address Thursday as furious parents who were locked out due to capacity issues pounded on the doors and even smashed a window.

It was a chaotic scene:

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

The tensions flared because the venue simply wasn’t large enough for all the families who came to watch their loved ones walk the stage. There was at least one injury:

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.

Chaotic video footage shows dozens of people standing outside the auditorium chanting “Let us in! Let us in!” as the ceremony began. Pictures showed a glass door had been shattered during the commotion as people banged on the doors and tried to push past security to go inside.

Students, many of whom may have missed their high school graduations in 2020 because of COVID, were heartbroken:

Howard dropped the ball@ CNAS graduation. Due to poor planning many ppl didn’t get in n Ppl who traveled from over 30 states didn’t get to see their students graduate. After being rightly outraged, HU shut down the ceremony and blamed it on the families. Sick. #HowardUniversity pic.twitter.com/1ZZas4aDcY— Ms. Rinnie (@TrimothyJoe) May 10, 2024

One grad explained what happened:

“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.”

Another grad said, “I’m confused why it got so crazy, how it got so quick, so bad so fast.” At least one administrator seemed to blame the families:

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.

The fire department clapped back, however, and said it wasn't them who shut things down:

“D.C. Fire and EMS did not shut down tonight’s event,” the department said. “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.”

I would never condone rioting and have been quite outspoken about the pro-Hamas zealots, but I know that I'd be pretty darn upset if I'd come across the country—possibly with multiple family members—only to be told that I couldn't watch my kid get his degree. 

Somebody in the administration needs to either find a new job or learn to plan better, because this was an unfortunate outcome for all involved. Have they not heard of outdoor ceremonies or taking reservations?


See also:

Devil With a Palestinian Flag: Duke Students Walk Out of Graduation As Jerry Seinfeld Introduced



TOPICS: Education; Politics; Society
KEYWORDS: cancellation; graduation; howarduniversity; prohamas

1 posted on 05/12/2024 6:53:41 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Poor Boo-Boo.

It’s his fault.


2 posted on 05/12/2024 6:54:56 PM PDT by Paladin2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Honestly, the school needed to pick a bigger venue, given the fact many of these students and their families were denied a normal graduation because of the plandemic. It should have been easily, a long time ago, been factored into the choice of location.


3 posted on 05/12/2024 6:59:13 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; not averse to Going Bronson.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

“Because our relatives sometimes do not know how to act.....”

Yep. This is why we can’t have nice things.


4 posted on 05/12/2024 6:59:23 PM PDT by SharpenedEdge (Stockpile. Prepare. Arm. Train. A Storm is coming.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Dog bites man.

Apes riot over nothing.


5 posted on 05/12/2024 6:59:32 PM PDT by Reverend Wright ( Everything touched by progressives, dies !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

A result of profoundly poor planning and lack of preparation for what should have been expected.
Why invite all these families there if your venue lacks the holding capacity? How dumb can one get?

These are people who have looked forward to this ceremony for a long time, some, for several years. Now, you’re going to play games for who does or does not get to enter?


6 posted on 05/12/2024 7:01:19 PM PDT by lee martell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
Looking at the video, I really couldn't tell if it was a graduation ceremony or a brawl at McD's over cold french fries. Above my pay grade, I guess.

7 posted on 05/12/2024 7:05:48 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie (LORD, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
How Weird !
8 posted on 05/12/2024 7:06:54 PM PDT by Ken Regis (I concur )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

DEI.


9 posted on 05/12/2024 7:23:36 PM PDT by HIDEK6 (God bless Donald Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Ken Regis

I watched the footage and was expecting a hockey game to break out.


10 posted on 05/12/2024 7:31:37 PM PDT by desertsolitaire
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

“no head count limit per graduate…” I wonder…Maybe we’ll find out in due course what really happened.


11 posted on 05/12/2024 7:31:54 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard ( Resist the narrative. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Secret Agent Man

Every local High school in DC has to hold graduations at larger venues. This is standard in the DC area. This was no mistake someone tried to cut corners or dropped the ball on securing a larger venue. I hope parents are reimbursed for their inconvenience for this incompetence.


12 posted on 05/12/2024 7:48:40 PM PDT by cnsmom
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Reverend Wright

No need to look, eh?


13 posted on 05/12/2024 9:22:15 PM PDT by Tom Tetroxide
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Tom Tetroxide

Kamala”s alma mater.

EC


14 posted on 05/13/2024 1:12:53 AM PDT by Ex-Con777
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

They should have had it on Fathers Day


15 posted on 05/13/2024 1:49:48 AM PDT by Palio di Siena (P01135809)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Not enough information is given. Often only parents are invited to graduation. Was this the case when the whole family insisted on entering?


16 posted on 05/13/2024 3:43:13 AM PDT by jimfr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

As a gesture of kindness to my parents, I did not attend my final graduation. How many graduations must one attend to know that they are stupefyingly boring?

I had my doctoral diploma mailed to my home.


17 posted on 05/13/2024 4:42:07 AM PDT by wintertime ( Behind every government school teacher stand armed police.( Real bullets in those guns on the hip!))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jimfr

Normally the college gives each graduate a set number of tickets, eight, ten, twelve, fifteen, however many.

# graduates x tickets per, gives you the max seating coaapocity needed!


18 posted on 05/13/2024 5:01:31 AM PDT by Svartalfiar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

When we attended graduations for our son and several nephews, we had tickets. Were unticketed people taking up the space or trying to attend?


19 posted on 05/13/2024 6:13:59 AM PDT by JimRed (TERM LIMITS, NOW! Finish the damned WALL! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson