New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

Hundreds wait to enter Yankee Stadium as commencement begins

Dozens of graduates told WSN they had been waiting in line for over two hours.
%28Krish+Dev+for+WSN%29
Krish Dev
(Krish Dev for WSN)

An hour after NYU’s 191st commencement exercises were scheduled to begin, hundreds of graduates surrounded the entrances of Yankee Stadium waiting to enter the venue. The crowd demanded that administrators at the stadium expedite its security check, with some shouting, “Let us in” at stadium guards and New York City Police Department officers.

Dozens of graduates standing in the line told WSN they had been waiting to enter the stadium for more than two hours, and that they had received little direction from security. Some said the event had designated “too many” entrances for friends and family while opening just one for graduates. 

“Nobody told us anything,” graduate Jasmine Guevara said. “They pushed us here, they pushed us there — we’ve just been waiting for an hour and a half.”

Shortly after noon, security opened two more entrances at Gate 4 of the stadium and the line quickly dissipated. As the students waited in line, the ceremony’s welcome exercises began and student speaker Samuel Fung gave a speech addressing Israel’s ongoing siege in Gaza and the Russia-Ukraine war. 

When most graduates from the line entered the stadium, President Linda Mills, interim provost Georgina Dopico and general counsel Aisha Oliver-Staley were conferring honorary degrees for recipients Ouided Bouchamaoui, Katalin Karikó and Martha Minow, who was also this year’s commencement speaker. 

A university spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Contact Dharma Niles at [email protected].

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About the Contributors
Dharma Niles
Dharma Niles, Deputy News Editor
Dharma Niles is a first-year student currently studying journalism and politics at CAS, and has yet to choose between the six different minors she'd also like to pursue. You can generally find her playing NYT games, skittering around the city with a Celsius in hand or on Instagram @dharmaniles.
Krish Dev
Krish Dev, Multimedia Editor
Krish is a first-year planning to major in Computer Science and Linguistics at CAS. In his free time, he enjoys posting photos on @krish_dev.creations, obsessing over geography, watching new films with friends, taking public transport to new places and letting Arsenal make or break his week.

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  • M

    Mary BethMay 16, 2024 at 10:46 am

    NYU should be embarrassed and ashamed. Parents NEVER made it in! The were over 5000 people in line not moving – how do they manage it at a Yankees game? It is sad to see the picture with half the stadium empty during commencement – not by choice! We gave up after a 4 hour drive to get TO the stadium. Disgusted by the lack of effort on the part of NYU.

    Reply
    • R

      Ro SilverMay 17, 2024 at 11:19 am

      i am so sorry for what you had to go through!! i cant believe that we havent gotten any communication yet from NYU. a letter saying sorry or apology? hello!

      Reply
  • E

    Erin HartnettMay 16, 2024 at 8:11 am

    My friend waited 2 1/2 hours to get in and missed the first hour of her PhD graduation.
    I went to many security officers when the graduation began to see why hundreds of students were not being let in.
    There was no one in charge, there was one gate for students and they refused to open any other gates. They were smirking, uncaring and said “we are doing the best we can” and refused to contact a top level supervisor to change the situation.
    The graduates missed at least one hour of the ceremony because Yankee stadium entrance system was incompetent.
    I hope this is the last time NYU uses Yankee stadium for graduation.

    Reply
  • K

    KateMay 15, 2024 at 3:53 pm

    It is THE worst event I ever attended. At the gate 2 family line, people cut into the line every minute, more people cut in than the line could move. We told them to get into the line, some even said the security people told them to cut in -:(. The main reason is also no organization, the security personnel were not doing their jobs…

    Reply