The university’s 373rd commencement ceremony this Thursday witnessed throngs of graduating students march out in protest of the Israel-Hamas war. The Harvard graduation protests saw students sporting keffiyehs, waving Palestinian flags, and chanting against the university’s decision to hold back 13 students from receiving their degrees.
While those students were ultimately granted permission to walk alongside the other graduating students in gowns and caps, they would only receive their diplomas after completing their terms of probation or suspension, given that they also meet adequate academic standards, according to the university. They also have the option of choosing the expedited review and appeal process.
Within Massachusetts, MIT and Harvard are the only universities that have withheld students from receiving their degrees due to encampment protests. Interim Harvard president Alan Garber has also affirmed that Harvard would not opt to divest from Israel.
This academic year proved to be one rife for Harvard university with student demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas conflict, ending after the university decided to withhold the degrees from 13 students over their 3-week-long encampment in the Harvard Yard.
Said decision led to heightening the intensity of the protests that erupted at the commencement ceremony, making it bigger, more extensive and more emphatic in scale as compared to other graduation protests seen at other universities in the region up until now. The protestors walked down Massachusetts Avenue upto the Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church, where they were greeted by several faculty and student speakers.
The decision to hold back the 13 students from graduating came after a vote from Harvard Corporation. It came as a jolt to both faculty and students who protested what they felt was undeserved political pressure on university leaders, their dissent voiced out loud through their speeches.
Graduation Speeches protest campus administration
The Harvard graduation protests and their reactions continued throughout the day, heard in speeches highlighting the scale of human suffering in Gaza. On the other hand, trucks with messages and photos of protestors circled around accusing students of rising antisemitism within the campus.
The opening remarks from Garber noted the conflict in the Middle East. “This moment of joy for us, coincides with moments for others we cannot comprehend. Elsewhere people are experiencing the worst days of their lives,” said Garber.
“Here and there, we are all human beings, seeking connection and contentment, finding comfort in communities and rituals, trying, as difficult as it may be, to make sense of things as they are, to make sense of one another and of ourselves.”
The speech ended with the crowd booing, while student speeches such as that of Shruti Kumar who gave the senior English speech called out the university administration for “intolerance of freedom of speech” on campus. The speeches also emphasised solidarity with the 13 students held back from receiving their diplomas.
While Harvard had repeatedly issued disciplinary warnings to encampment protesters over breaching campus rules, many faculty members noted that the disciplinary actions towards the students were more severe than in previous instances. However, the university is yet to provide the details of both the students’ and the disciplinary actions, refraining from commenting on individual cases.
The above falls in line with the approaches from other universities who, such as Northeastern University and Tufts University, who have also opted to keep the sanctions on students undisclosed. The pro-Palestinian campus encampments had led to over 3,000 arrests throughout America.
