As graduating students began to file in for their commencement ceremony at Ohio State University yesterday, an attendant fell from the stadium stands to their death. But, as horrified as some of the attendants and graduating students who witnessed it were, the graduation bizarrely continued without interruption, and without a mention of the emergency situation going on right below their noses.
From The Washington Post:
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. …
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.
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 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.
As of this morning when the Washington Post article came out, coroners were still working to identify the person who died.
For another bizarre Ohio State University post, read here about the time the school tried — but failed — to trademark the word "the."
