Anti-Israel Harvard students not happy with presidential appointment: 'Alan Garbage'
Anti-Israel student groups at Harvard University aren't happy with the appointment of Alan Garber to serve as the institution's president.
Anti-Israel student groups at Harvard University aren’t happy with the appointment of Alan Garber to serve as the institution’s president.
Harvard announced on Friday that Garber, who was the interim president of the Ivy League school, will be in the role permanently until the conclusion of the 2026-2027 academic year, according to The Harvard Crimson.
Anti-Israel groups who organized an encampment on Harvard’s campus during the spring semester criticized Garber’s appointment. Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, a coalition of student groups, wrote in a statement to the outlet that Garber has “engaged in bad faith” with protesters.
“Since day 1, Garber has only ever engaged in bad faith with students protesting this genocide, choosing to restrict protest, sanction students, and suspend our organizations instead of listening to members of the Harvard community who are mourning loss and are enraged at the institutions role in this violence,” Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine wrote. “This new development means very little to us — no university administrator and no rights and responsibilities will stop the student intifada and the movement for Palestinian liberation and divestment.”
Rose Couture, an organizer for the Harvard Feminist Coalition, also critizes the new appointment, saying that “under Garber’s leadership, students organizing for Harvard’s divestment from the occupation of Palestine and the ongoing genocide in Gaza were harassed, unprotected, unjustly punished, and largely ignored.”
Hossameldin Mabed, a Harvard Alumni for Palestine, said that the university’s actions during the encampment gave “a clear indication of the direction Harvard will seek under Garber’s presidency: the same policy of repression and intimidation.”
“However, while Garber and the Corporation may continue to try to suppress our movement, we know that our movement will only grow stronger, as the more they try to silence us, the louder our voice gets,” Mabed added. “Whether under Garber or any other president, we will continue to hold our alma mater accountable for its support and funding for apartheid and genocide.”
A draft document recently leaked from Harvard’s Office of General Counsel and the Working Group on Campus Space, which states that overnight camping, chalking, and unapproved signage will not be allowed.
[RELATED: Harvard changes mind, decides to give degrees to disruptive anti-Israel activists]
Harvard administrators drafted the policy after a wave of anti-Israel protests on campus during the spring semester, which included 20 days of protesters occupying a portion of campus.
Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton told The Harvard Crimson that the policy isn’t finalized.
