Harvard University is bracing for protests at Thursday's commencement ceremony after one of the most tumultuous years in the university's history.
The possibility of further unrest was heightened by the decision of the Board of Trustees, Harvard University, to bar 13 students from graduating for the time being for their involvement in pro-Palestinian protests on campus. The students and many faculty supporters believed that a deal had been reached with the administration to end the camp, all but guaranteeing the end of the disciplinary proceedings. The university denied that it was committed to the outcome of the disciplinary proceedings.
The controversy caps a year that has seen universities at the center of a national debate over how they have handled student protests against the Israel-Hamas war.
The unrest began on October 7, when more than 30 student organizations signed an open letter holding Israel accountable for the violence of Hamas attacks in Israel that killed more than 1,200 people and kidnapped around 250.
The backlash against the letter and Harvard's slow response to condemning the attack as terrorism led to clashes on campus. Pro-Palestinian students were exposed publicly and their names and faces were circulated on trucks around campus. Jewish students were attacked with anti-Semitic slurs on social media. And wealthy donors withdrew their money.
By January, Harvard University's first black president, Claudine Gay, was facing mounting charges of plagiarism in academic papers and calling for the genocide of Jews in testimony before a congressional committee, in violation of Harvard's code of conduct. He was forced to resign after giving damning testimony that he did not denounce his actions.
Even the Select Committee on Antisemitism was mired in controversy over the selection of its co-chair, Derek J. Pensler, professor of Jewish history at Harvard University, who argued that the extent of antisemitism on campus was overstated. He said he was there.
The latest controversy over student discipline began Friday, when the protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine announced it would not allow some senior students to graduate. The announcement caused an uproar, with student supporters claiming that the students were being punished for their peaceful protests. Harvard did not provide details of the students' misconduct, but an official statement said protesters cut locks on gates and harassed and threatened staff.
Some faculty supporters then engaged in a bureaucratic duel over the fate of the students.
Each year, on the Monday before the commencement ceremony, the university administration sends to the College of Arts and Sciences a list of all students who have met the graduation requirements and are in good standing. The faculty meeting is usually a formality: professors are asked whether they would approve of sending the list to the corporation for the award of degrees, and traditionally they do so.
But this year, a group of faculty and staff supporting the student protests came to the meeting with an amendment that would re-add 13 students, including two Rhodes Scholars, to the Academic Affairs roster. Monday's meeting was attended by about 115 faculty members out of about 900 eligible faculty members. About 500 faculty members signed a letter in support of the students.
But Harvard officials said the amendment is nonbinding because it does not overturn disciplinary actions or elevate students to good standing.
The university confirmed on Wednesday that it had barred 13 students from graduating.
Under the rules, students can appeal and potentially be restored to good standing. The organization said that if they do, the university will award the degree immediately, rather than waiting until the next official graduation period, and students such as Rhodes Scholars will not lose their scholarships.
“We understand that not being able to graduate is a serious issue for students and their families,” the corporation said in a statement. “We fully support the College of Humanities and Sciences’ stated intent to expeditiously review qualified reconsideration or appeal requests at this time.”
The commencement speaker was journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, who Harvard University interim president Alan Garber described as “the embodiment of Veritas.''
Meanwhile, on Wednesday night, the night before graduation, Harvard Out of Palestine posted a message of its own. “See you at the graduation ceremony.”
