Note: Students interviewed for this article were offered anonymity for privacy protection. They are referred to by the pseudonyms of Ryan, Alex, Charlie, and Avery.
Harvard has a history of using campus protesting as a means of public expression. Ranging from demonstrations to die-ins, student activists have used protesting to express grievances or demand action for decades. While Harvard College’s student handbook maintains that 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,” unforeseen circumstances have left the University to adjust its policies in regards to protesting and dissent on the fly.
The substantial increase in in-class protests over the past year has spurred recent condemnation from Harvard leadership. More than 100 students walked out of Professor John Comaroff’s first class last spring due to the professor’s continued tenure despite his violation of the University’s sexual harassment policies. On Oct. 19, a general strike was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC), where students were asked to walk out of class and “stand in solidarity with Palestinians facing genocide.” A pro-Palestinian “Week of Action” led by the African and African American Resistance Organization (AFRO) this past December led to four students being sent to the Administrative Board for their involvement in organizing in-class chants and walk-outs.
In response, the University hardened its stance on campus protesting. A University-wide statement, issued by Interim President Alan M. Garber ’76 and University leadership, on University Rights and Responsibilities on Jan. 19 clarified that “unless a particular School makes an explicit exception, demonstrations and protests are ordinarily not permitted in classrooms and other spaces of instruction; libraries or other spaces designated for study, quiet reflection, and small group discussion.” This is in line with an additional section of the handbook which explains that “interference with members of the University in performance of their normal duties and activities must be regarded as unacceptable obstruction of the essential processes of the University.” Ultimately, in-class disruptions at Harvard are prohibited.
Current guidelines regarding who has the power to punish students participating in classroom disruptions and if professors themselves can relay their own consequences are unclear. Jonathan Palumbo, a Harvard College communications team spokesperson, declined to comment on behalf of the Administrative Board on their internal process. Though he referenced the student handbook and the Administrative Board’s website for publicly available policies, there is no apparent verdict on professor involvement and official consequences.
Though some professors have opted to remain silent on their thoughts on in-class protesting, others have been more vocal with their sentiments. In one example, on the first day of Psychology 1: Introduction to Psychological Science, the introductory course requirement for the Psychology department, Professor Jason Mitchell expressed his opinions on classroom disruption to his students. While he encouraged them “to express their political opinions,” he asked that they not “disrupt lecture to do so,” he explained in an email interview with the Independent. “The most important quality of any relationship—including that between instructor and student—is mutual respect, so I anticipate that students will honor that request.”
Students in the class had mixed reactions to their professor’s sentiments. “I just remember thinking it was a bit off-putting, especially since this was a new professor [and this was] his first impression on his whole class,” expressed Ryan. “There was no initiative of any controversy, [and] the idea of a protest happening wasn’t really in the picture. I guess I understand why he would just mention that if it was that important to him, but I remember feeling a bit put off-guard because he was inserting some political thing that I feel like teachers don’t really get into unless it’s relevant to the class discussion, especially on the first day.”
Alex was similarly taken aback and felt that the environment of the class changed in response to Professor Mitchell’s comments. “It’s just something weird to hear professors [say]. I feel like normally [they] don’t really involve themselves in that.” Yet, Alex expressed that they were not surprised by Mitchell’s comments, noting how Harvard’s campus has become increasingly tense and divided this past year. “[The policy] is definitely something unfamiliar for professors to talk about. But I think it’s also been a really weird year here, and it’s not unnecessary to talk about.”
Though Professor Mitchell clarified to the Independent that he has no official disruption policy and that his time spent on the subject was short, it still stood out to those who were paying attention. “[I felt it was] interesting, especially given the political climate at this school right now. I think there’s a lot of contention going on between a lot of different people on a lot of different issues. He didn’t endorse any particular side on any issue or talk about any specific issue at all, but I think it was kind of all-encompassing.”
In general, students are calling for a clear policy on the involvement of professors versus administrators giving consequences for in-class protesting. “We should standardize [a policy regarding protesting] because if it comes up to the discretion of the teacher, there could be more punishments as opposed to an administration rights policy. I think also, if there is a broader policy, it could be up to the teacher’s interpretation in the case that some classes or teachers may not enforce the policy as strongly, which leads to some confusion,” said Avery.
However, while some students are advocating for a more general policy, others are taking stances on whether or not they think consequences for in-class disruptions should be left to a professor’s discretion. “If someone has something to say, fine, it could disrupt other people, but if they think it’s relevant, they shouldn’t be put down,” Ryan said. Charlie disagreed with this notion, explaining that both students and professors have a right to respond to in-class protesting accordingly. “You have the right to go into a classroom and disrupt it, but in the same way that a teacher is allowed to evaluate your participation in that class in the way that he or she or they want to… More broadly speaking, I would agree with the ability of a professor to dole out punishment in a class that they run.”
The ultimate decisions of the Ad-Boarded students who disrupted class could provide further context to what, as of right now, remains unanswered. However, if one thing’s for sure, as Harvard’s campus continues to adjust, students, professors, administrators, and community members will be forced to confront new norms and adapt to change.
Layla Chaaraoui ’26 (laylachaaraoui@college.harvard.edu) and Vincent Honrubia ’27 (vincenthonrubia@college.harvard.edu) write News for the Independent.