They made their way to the main entrance of Surgeons' Hall only to have the gates slammed in their faces. They endured the hostility of the crowd until a sympathetic student came to their rescue and opened the front gates for them. At the end of the exam, the women declined the offer of leaving via a side entrance onto the street. The Surgeon's Hall Riot, as it has now become known, was a landmark in the history of the medical women's campaign and attracted widespread publicity. It won the women many new friends and sympathisers.