CAMBRIDGE, MASS. (WHDH) - The 20-day occupation of Harvard Yard has come to an end.
Student group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine announced it is peacefully ending its encampment in the historic space, and crews could be seen clearing debris and getting the yard back in order Tuesday morning.
“Every day we sustained the encampment – beyond the last day of classes, finals week, move-out – has been a day where we strengthened our organizing capacity, built networks of solidarity, and forced the question of Palestine on an institution that has historically refused it,” Harvard OOP organizers said in a post on Instagram.
Organizers said the University promised leniency for more than 60 students facing disciplinary action for their involvement in the encampment.
“As a precondition for decamping, administration will retract suspensions,” the group wrote. “Administration has also offered us meetings regarding disclosure and divestment with members of the Harvard Management Company and ‘conversations’ regarding the establishment of a Center for Palestine Studies at Harvard.”
A Harvard spokesperson said Interim President Alan Garber “will ask the schools to adjudicate disciplinary matters promptly under existing practices and precedents. He will similarly ask the Schools to process reinstatement requests expeditiously in light of the changed circumstances that have abated the risk to the academic environment.”
In a statement to the Harvard community, Garber confirmed the agreements had been made.
“Now that the area is being cleared and in line with the conversation I had with students last week, I will facilitate a meeting with the chair of the Corporation Committee on Shareholder Responsibility and other University officials to address questions about the endowment,” Garber wrote. “And, in keeping with my commitment to ongoing and reasoned dialogue, the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and I will meet with students to hear their perspectives on academic matters related to longstanding conflicts in the Middle East.”
Despite these concessions, organizers of the protest said they do not consider the meetings are divestment “wins”.
“These side-deals are intended to pacify us away from full disclosure and divestment,” organizers wrote. “Rest assured, they will not.”
Harvard’s was one of dozens of student encampments across the country set up in protest of the war in Gaza, many of which ended in mass arrests.
“I acknowledge the profound grief that many in our community feel over the tragic effects of the ongoing war,” Garber wrote. “There will continue to be deep disagreements and strongly felt emotions as we experience pain and distress over events in the wider world. Now more than ever, it is crucial to do what we do at our best, creating conditions for true dialogue, modeling ways to build understanding, empathy, and trust, and pursuing constructive change anchored in the rights and responsibilities we share.”
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