Harvard faculty urge college to let disciplined student protesters graduate on time

At its regular meeting to discuss which students should obtain degrees this year, members of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences body recommended that 13 students disciplined over protesting against the war in Gaza be allowed to receive their degrees.

The move Monday came a day before Harvard's governing boards were scheduled to review the recommendation. Both the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers were set to decide Wednesday whether to ratify the faculty vote and make it official. Several members of the faculty group expressed optimism the boards would follow its guidance.

Last Friday, the university's Administrative Board opted to punish the undergraduate seniors for their participation in a 20-day-long pro-Palestinian encampment in Harvard Yard that folded last week. At least five students were suspended, and 20 others were placed on probation.

College policy allows the students to obtain their degrees, but only after their disciplinary matters resolve and they return to "good standing."

Kirsten Weld, a Harvard history professor and member of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences body, described Monday's vote as a "repudiation" of the Administrative Board's actions.

While the vote does not negate the disciplinary decisions, it made clear the faculty group's position that 13 of the seniors set to graduate this week should get their diplomas on schedule.

"It would be truly unprecedented and extremely corrosive of the relations of trust between the faculty and the administration for the Corporation or the Overseers to overturn such a decisive and well-substantiated and procedurally correct move," Weld said in an interview.

She also argued that Harvard statute gives the faculty group the ultimate authority to confer degrees to students.

In an open letter Monday, many Harvard faculty members criticized the sanctions against the seniors, saying they "undermined trust" in Harvard leadership because administrators led students to believe they likely could graduate on time in exchange for dismantling the encampment.

They noted that interim President Alan Garber told students he would encourage administrators to "expeditiously" evaluate students' disciplinary cases if the camp came down. However, Garber's May 14 letter on the camp did not make any explicit promises of leniency.

The faculty vote took place during the body's regular pre-commencement meeting to review the list of graduating seniors. Faculty in attendance said the measure got "overwhelming" support.

Ryan Enos, a political scientist and government professor, said the question as to whether these seniors could get their degrees on time drew more faculty than usual.

"This was, in many ways, very extraordinary," said Enos. "It was more [faculty] than I’ve ever seen at one of these meetings."

Weld and Enos said the affected students took a moment to celebrate after Monday's voice vote. Several of them, the professors said, expressed relief, but acknowledged they needed to await the governing boards' final decisions.

"This isn’t the first time that students thought something would go one direction and then seem to have been thrown a curveball," said Enos.

Harvard's main undergraduate commencement is set for Thursday.

"My sense is," Weld added, "they’re not going to feel better until they walk across that stage, receive the envelope and open it and see if there’s something inside."