Devastated Howard University nursing grads who missed out on their 2020 high school graduation because of COVID slam the school and families for disastrous commencement ceremony

Devastated Howard University nursing graduates have slammed the school after their graduation was cancelled an hour into the ceremony.

The tearful students, who did not get to walk the stage for their 2020 high school graduations due to Covid, we left disappointed again following the events on Thursday.

The university was forced to cancel graduations for the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences after the auditorium hit capacity. 

Furious relatives were seen banging on the venue chanting 'let us in' and a glass door ended up getting smashed. 

'I didn't even get to walk,' student Halle Ragoonanan told NBC. 'I graduated magnum cum laude and I didn't even get to walk. I'm class of 2020, I didn't get to walk for my high school graduation.'

Howard University was forced to cancel a graduation ceremony after furious relatives began banging on doors and smashing windows after the auditorium hit capacity

Images showed a shattered glass door as the relatives tried to push their way past security

Halle Ragoonanan missed out on both her high school and college graduations after missing the first due to Covid

'All the money we spent, my father and grandmother came down from North Carolina,' another student added. 

TikToks posted from outside Cramton Auditorium in Washington DC showed students sobbing on the other side of the glass as it dawned on them their relatives would not be able to watch them.

'I'm student here and can plan a graduation ceremony better that your unprofessional faculty,' the TikTok's poster Destiny Marilyn wrote.

'Y'all have a whole field that can be utilized, why would you try to cramp everyone in one auditorium.' 

Crowds to the non-ticketed event began to form two hours ahead of the 6pm ceremony, student newspaper The Hilltop reports.

The hall has a 1,500 seat capacity and the 280 graduates were advised they could each bring three to four guests. 

'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,' CNAHS Dean Gina Spivey-Brown said during the ceremony.

At least one person was hurt in the commotion, according to DC officials. Various reports said the injured person was a student who was treated for a cut. 

Dean of the College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences Gina Brown made announcement claiming the fire department had shut the ceremony down

However, the DC fire department has denied they shut down the graduation

Some students expressed heartbreak about not being able to walk at their graduation

Fire officials later said it was not their decision to shut down the ceremony.

'At 6:42 p.m. we responded to the Cramton Auditorium for a medical call at the request of campus police. The patient was evaluated and refused transport and D.C. Fire and EMS departed,' Noah Gray, the Chief Communications Officer for D.C. Fire and EMS said.

Howard later said in their own statement that someone was removed from the building before the ceremony and they came back and broke a window.

The school's statement read: 'This incident led to a disturbance among guests outside of the facility, resulting in a disruption of the program.

'Guests in attendance were immediately dispersed following this incident.'

It comes as other graduation ceremonies have been disturbed over the war in Gaza.

Dozens of students stormed out of Duke University's commencement ceremony in protest over guest speaker Jerry Seinfeld who has supported Israel since the October 7 atrocity by Hamas and throughout the war in Gaza.

The comedian, 70, was met with a a mix of cheers and boos as he was introduced before students carrying flags and chanting 'free, free Palestine' marched out of the Wallace Wade Stadium on Sunday.