Person dies after falling from stands at Ohio State graduation
One person died after falling from the stands during a graduation ceremony at Ohio State University on Sunday afternoon, the school said.
The person died around 12:25 p.m. Sunday and was pronounced dead by the Columbus Division of Fire at the school’s football stadium in Columbus, Ohio, OSU spokesman Ben Johnson told The Washington Post.
Johnson said administrators are still working to identify the person. It is not known what led to the person’s death or whether they were a student.
Johnson said the school would make counseling and other support resources available for anyone affected by the incident.
The Franklin County coroner’s office told the The Post that it is working on identifying the person.
A local police officer called for help over the OSU police radio at roughly 12:30 p.m., stating, “I need medics and some officers at Gate 30” of the stadium. “Had one fall off the stadium,” the officer continued, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Based on the time of the call to the police, the incident appears to have occurred while students were walking in, before the speeches and collection of diplomas began.
A witness told the Dispatch that one person fell as the last graduates were filing past that area of the stadium. People in the stands and some students at commencement were visibly upset, according to a Dispatch reporter.
Students leaving the ceremony walked past the area where the body fell. The area was cordoned off by yellow police tape at least until after the ceremony, according to the Dispatch.
The commencement continued uninterrupted, as can be seen in a video of the live stream, with no mention of the incident during the more than three-hour ceremony.
The death was not mentioned on the university’s social media pages, including Instagram, on Monday morning - although some people noted the death in comments on graduation photos shared by the school.
“My thoughts are with the family of the person who died at graduation today,” said one commenter.
“Heard … someone died,” said another. “I’m sorry class of 2024, y’all deserved a better day not littered with terrible circumstances.”
The school’s 436th commencement ceremony began at noon with Melissa Shivers, senior vice president for student life, opening the ceremony. She reminded the thousands in the audience that the class of 2024 was “the very first class to face the covid-19 pandemic head-on with great resilience, patience and perseverance.”
OSU is one of a handful of universities across the country that confers degrees to nearly all of its graduating students on the same day.
Roughly 12,555 degrees and certificates were awarded Sunday: 306 doctorates, 1,698 master’s degrees, 970 graduate professional degrees and 9,581 undergraduate and associate degrees and certificates.