Harvard President Threatens to Place Protesters Involved in Encampment on ‘Involuntary Leave’

Interim Harvard University President Alan M. Garber threatened to place pro-Palestinian protesters involved in an encampment on campus on “involuntary leave.”

Garber explained in his letter to faculty, staff, and students that the encampment established on Harvard University’s campus has led to “numerous” disruptions and university activities and exams having to be relocated.

“Harvard College exams and other important activities and events have had to move elsewhere,” Garber said. “Safety concerns over the past two weeks, including those raised as a result of students sleeping outdoors overnight, have required us to sharply limit access to Harvard Yard.” He added that protesters and the encampment had impacted several students’ “ability to sleep, study, and move freely” around the campus.

The letter continued:

I write today with this simple message: The continuation of the encampment presents a significant risk to the educational environment of the University. 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.

“Garber’s threats represent a significant and unprecedented escalation by the University,” Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine (HOOP) said in a statement, according to the Washington Examiner.

The group called for people in the “Harvard and Boston community” to meet near Johnston Gate for a rally at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, according to a post on HOOP’s Instagram.

Garber acknowledged in his statement that the “right to free speech, including protest and dissent, is vital to the work of the research university”:

But it is not unlimited. It must be exercised in a time, place, and manner that respects the right of our community members to do their work, pursue their education, and enjoy the opportunities that a residential campus has to offer. The encampment favors the voices of a few over the rights of many who have experienced disruption in how they learn and work at a critical time of the semester.

The letter from Garber comes as Melissa Nobles, the chancellor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, announced on Monday that protesters involved in an encampment on the university’s campus who did not voluntarily leave by 2:30 p.m. would be placed on an “interim academic suspension.”

Columbia University also announced that it was canceling its main commencement ceremony almost a week after the New York Police Department conducted a raid when protesters seized control of an academic building on campus.

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