New Campus Rules

August 30, 2024

Harvard Faculty and Staff Condemn "discriminatory" and "repressive" new campus rules, which they say will be used to quash anti-war protests

“One Harvard One World,” a recent brochure boasts on the university’s website. If only Harvard would mobilize its resources on behalf of more than 2 million Palestinians trapped under relentless bombing in Gaza, with minimal access to food, water, or medical care, estimated to result in 186,000 Palestinian deaths. Instead, University administrators, like others across the country, have worked tirelessly to suppress expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people, condemnations of genocide and crimes against humanity, and anti-war activism and speech. 

Highlighting its commitment to the military-industrial complex, the Harvard Corporation hired a top executive of Northrop Grumman—one of the world’s largest weapons manufacturers and supplier to the Israeli Air Force—as its general counsel and vice president in July. This summer, the Office of the Executive Vice President developed a new set of campus rules as pretexts for limiting political and intellectual expression. 

According to Harvard University’s Statement on Rights and Responsibilities, which was first approved in 1970: “The University must affirm, assure and protect the rights of its members to organize and join political associations, convene and conduct public meetings, publicly demonstrate and picket in orderly fashion, advocate and publicize opinion by print, sign, and voice.” 

However, on August 1, 2024, the Office of the Executive Vice President released a new set of Harvard Campus Use Rules—bypassing faculty input or review—to newly require administrative authorization where members of the community once freely organized, demonstrated, and advocated. 

These new rules flagrantly violate the process described in the University-Wide Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which advocates for the “responsibility of officers of administration and instruction … to give full and fair hearing to reasoned expressions of grievances … In making decisions which concern the community as a whole or any part of the community, officers are expected to consult with those affected by the decisions … Failures to meet these responsibilities may be profoundly damaging to the life of the University.” 

The University’s current intent is clear: to chill and police the speech of students, faculty, and staff advocating for justice in Palestine and institutional divestment from the military-industrial complex. These Campus Use Rules codify repressive policies enforced in a discriminatory fashion last year: when the University administration failed to protect students and faculty from harassment for their anti-genocide advocacy, suspended the only Palestine advocacy student group on campus (@harvxrdpsc), and unfairly punished students protesting Harvard’s complicity in genocide.

Even Harvard Magazine questioned the “practical difficulties” of these rules, asking whether they will truly be enforced universally. Although the University has omitted specific details about how and to whom one should apply for permission, they have made it clear that “[o]rganizations and/or individuals who do not comply with these Rules may be held financially responsible for any resulting costs incurred and may be subject to other consequences for noncompliance.”   

We refuse to be silenced by these draconian measures while Harvard aligns itself with the war machine perpetrating the genocide of Palestinians. We cannot hold our tongues as our university leaders and political leaders undermine international law to shield the State of Israel from accountability. We will continue to push for divestment of our University endowment from companies that profit from the mass killing, displacement, and forcible starvation of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as the illegal Israeli occupation.