Harvard relocated 25 final exams during pro-Hamas campus protests
According to The Harvard Crimson, the university had to relocate 25 exams amid pro-Hamas student activism this spring.
'The continuation of the encampment presents a significant risk to the educational environment of the University,' Harvard Interim President Alan Garber wrote to students on May 6.
Harvard University had to change the locations of 25 final exams as pro-Palestinian protesters occupied Harvard Yard and Harvard Hall in Cambridge, Massachusetts this spring.
As reported by The Harvard Crimson, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Registrar’s Office sent an email on April 30 to students explaining that 25 final exams would be moved from Harvard Hall to buildings located outside Harvard Yard. The changes took effect beginning May 2, only two days after the notice.
[RELATED: Hamas-endorsed Harvard protesters raise Palestinian flag where USA flag flies on campus]
The registrar’s office reportedly gave no reason for the change.
Student protesters have used Harvard Hall as a central location during their demonstrations. In November, nine pro-Palestinian student protesters occupied the building overnight.
In late April, pro-Hamas demonstrators appeared to have placed a Palestinian flag in a location typically used for the American flag.
Harvard Interim President Alan Garber stated on May 6 that students refusing to follow university policies may be subject to involuntary leave. Students placed under involuntary leave may have also been unable to complete final exams, stay in Harvard housing, or enter campus grounds.
“The continuation of the encampment presents a significant risk to the educational environment of the University,” Garber wrote. “Those who participate in or perpetuate its continuation will be referred for involuntary leave from their Schools.”
According to the Crimson, the student encampment had grown to over 50 tents.
Pro-Palestinian student protesters gave the university a deadline of 5 p.m. on May 6 to divest from Israel. Led by Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, student activists also spoke publicly that Monday evening.
“If university portfolios make genocide profitable, the student intifada will make each day of continued investment more costly than the last,” a student stated. “If these administrations run their campuses as tyrants, those campuses will become ungovernable.”
Harvard officials ultimately compromised with the activists to end the campus encampment on Tuesday, after the completion of final exams.
Recently, other college event locations had been changed without much notice.
Just hours before the event, a town hall among members of the Harvard Cooperation originally planned to be held in Harvard Hall on May 2 was moved to the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
According to the Crimson, the university’s annual Detur Book Prize ceremony, which “recognizes sophomores who attained very high academic standing in their first three semesters at the College,” was also relocated from Harvard Hall to Yenching Library.
Campus Reform has contacted the registrar’s office for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
