Howard University nursing ceremony cut short when venue reaches capacity
WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — An awards ceremony for Howard University nursing students ended ahead of schedule Thursday night when the venue reached capacity.
Students, families and friends started filing into Cramton Auditorium to celebrate graduates of the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences (CNAHS). The honors and awards ceremony, which is separate from the university’s commencement, was meant to run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., with 2024 graduates walking across the stage, receiving their diploma covers and hearing from a keynote speaker.
Certain high-achieving students also were going to receive awards, honors and other recognitions.
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The ceremony’s website said that the auditorium could accommodate three to four guests per graduate and that seating would run on a first-come, first-served basis.
Lydia Sermons, a spokeswoman with the university, noted that this is the largest graduating class in the college’s history, causing the auditorium to fill beyond capacity.
University officials had to stop letting people in to comply with the auditorium’s fire code.
The ceremony started, but was abruptly interrupted after someone broke a glass door. A video posted on X showed the shattered glass, with celebratory balloons floating nearby. It was captioned “Boo!…hundreds of pissed off families…fights…broken class…graduates walked out…ceremony canceled #HowardUniversity.”
After some concerns, officials decided to stop the program.
“It was very devastating and disheartening in the moment,” said Olivia Clines, a graduating senior at the ceremony. “I’m finally about to bask in the moment and then I don’t fully get that moment.”
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Clines said her family was able to get inside, but that wasn’t the case for many of her classmates.
“I’m seeing all my peers crying,” she explained. “It was almost everyone around me didn’t have parents inside.”
Clines said she could hear parents and family members banging on the auditorium doors to be let inside. She said she understood their frustration.
“All the families they just wanted to see their kids,” she said. I don’t think they necessarily came in here, I want to break the glass, I want to bang on the door. It was all just very disheartening.”
In a statement sent to DC News Now by the Office of University Communications, the university apologized. And said in part, “We apologize wholeheartedly for the challenges experienced during our College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences (CNAHS) commencement exercise. The overcrowding at Cramton Auditorium significantly impacted our guest experience.”
“Looking forward, we are committed to implementing measures that will better manage crowd capacity and enhance the overall ceremony experience. We greatly appreciate the understanding and patience of our community and guests during this time,” the statement continued.
The ceremony was rescheduled for Saturday, May 11 at the Capital One Arena following Howard University’s main graduation commencement.
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