Anti-Israel Harvard activists won't graduate as suspensions stand

Anti-Israel Harvard University student groups said that 15 activists will be unable to graduate with the rest of the student body on Tuesday with suspensions remaining in effect, according to them breaking the deal between the administration and protest encampment for its dissolution.

Over 35 Harvard student groups issued statements on Monday in support of the 23 students allegedly placed on multi-semester probation and 5 students who had been suspended on Thursday for their role in the anti-Israel encampment established on April 24, which led to 15 students allegedly being unable to graduate. The Harvard Palestine Solidarity Committee, which was suspended from the university on April 22, said Sunday that over 1,100 students had signed a petition calling for the punishments to be revoked.

Suspended students react 

PSC also shared on Instagram on Sunday an anonymous essay allegedly written by a senior having his degree withheld. The senior said that he had attempted to publish the item in the Harvard Crimson student newspaper but was denied the ability to do so anonymously. He reportedly sought to avoid academic retaliation.

"I will not be allowed to walk with a degree in hand for standing up, consistently and proudly, for veritas," said the student. "I am leaving Harvard infuriated, exhausted, and disgusted. I am appalled by the university's moral and material complicity in an ongoing genocide and the conditions of apartheid in occupied Palestine for which it aids and profits off."

Harvard Alumni for Palestine organized an email campaign to the administration, the Boston Party for Socialism and Liberation was involved in Sunday marches to Harvard Interim President Alan Garber's home, and the Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine (HOOP) coalition is set to hold a protest against the "retaliation" on Tuesday.  

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Harvard PSC said that Harvard had broken its promise, which HOOP described as a retracting suspension as a precondition for the removal of the camp on May 14.

Garber said he would facilitate a meeting with the Corporation Committee on Shareholder Responsibility and other Harvard officials about Harvard endowments, ask the schools to initiate reinstatement proceedings, and ask disciplinary boards to evaluate students expeditiously.

"At Harvard, our Schools have responsibility for our involuntary leave and disciplinary processes," Garber said last Tuesday.

Garber had warned on May 6 in response to the numerous disruptions to the school and reports of harassment that "those who participate in or perpetuate its continuation will be referred for involuntary leave from their Schools. Among other implications, students placed on involuntary leave may not be able to sit for exams, may not continue to reside in Harvard housing, and must cease to be present on campus until reinstated."

The Harvard encampment was one of dozens to erupt on American campuses since mid-April, in emulation of the protest at Columbia University. The encampments demanded the end of business and academic ties with Israel.