After being told their applications for admission were rejected 9,000 Umm Al-Qura University applicants and their parents caused a stampede and fought with staff and security personnel on Monday. Abdullah Ahmad, Dean of Um Al-Qura University for Admission and Registration, said, “We had to call in security and emergency reinforcement,” lamenting that matters escalated to the point of breaking doors and fistfighting with the university staff, Al-Watan reported. Applicants had come from Makkah, Taif, Al-Qunfuda and other neighboring cities to enroll in the university. The fights broke out in the early morning hours when university officials announced registration had been closed after the quotas had been reached. 400 applicants were admitted to the College of Engineering, 150 to the Computer Science College and 400 to the English department. Several parents told Al-Watan that they had seen admission staff having their lunch allowing the situation to escalate. “We saw the Vice Dean, Ahmad Al-Felali, motioning to the employees to finish eating and resume their work, but only because he saw members of the media arrive,” one parent said. The Dean of Admission, Abdullah Ahmad said he believed the number of applicants could be blamed on a misunderstanding. “The admission results were only preliminary not for the final acceptance. That is determined by the university's administration,” he said. One parent said he was appalled that the university disregarded the large number of applicants and only took 400 to the college of engineering. “Officials at the University told us that admission was predetermined on the basis of grades. If this is true and registration was done on the Internet, why did they tell to come here for registration? Why weren't the students told online that their applications had been rejected?” he said adding that his son may have missed the chance to apply to another university. “After standing in line since early in the morning, I was told that registration had been closed,” said one applicant, Mashari Saud. “I rushed to Jeddah to see if I could be admitted to King Abdulaziz University. I live in Makkah and Um Al-Qura University is near my home. There is nothing I can do about this now,” he said.
