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Harvard awards 11 degrees initially withheld from pro-Palestinian protesters

Harvard withheld 13 degrees from students due to their involvement with the 20-day pro-Palestinian protest encampment on Harvard Yard.

A student displays the Palestinian flag on his mortar board as graduates take their seats in Harvard Yard during commencement at Harvard University, Thursday, May 23, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

By Molly Farrar

July 24, 2024

Harvard University awarded 11 diplomas to students who were previously denied their degrees over their involvement with the 20-day pro-Palestinian protest encampment on Harvard Yard earlier this year.

Initially, the university withheld diplomas from 13 student demonstrators in late May when the Harvard Corporation, a university governing board, voted against conferring degrees for students “not in good standing.”

A spokesperson for Harvard confirmed that the 11 candidates were “restored to good standing” and referred to the Corporation’s May 22 statement that they would “consider” issuing the degrees if the students completed a disciplinary processes.

“Effective, fair, well understood, and consistently applied processes are vital to how we function as a learning community – and how we reconcile the opportunities to express our views, including through protest and dissent, with our obligations to one another,” Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton said.

Earlier this month, Harvard also reversed its decision to suspend five students by downgrading their punishments to probation periods, the most severe of which was one semester, the Harvard Crimson reported.

The Crimson initially reported the conferring of the 11 degrees. According to the school newspaper, the two other students are blocked from graduating due to outstanding probation sentences through the end of the fall semester.

Withholding degrees led to walk-out at commencement

The withheld degrees were not awarded during this spring’s commencement ceremonies despite a group of Harvard faculty “overwhelmingly” voting to allow the seniors to graduate. During Harvard’s commencement, students walked out in protest and held a demonstration in Harvard Square.

Harvard graduates walking out during commencement protesting the 13 students prevented from graduating today.

“Let them walk” is the chant.

I’m back to watch my undergrad class, 2024, graduate.

We need unity more than ever.#harvard #gaza pic.twitter.com/WWnVuYwjoe
— Steven Wang (@swangentr) May 23, 2024

Newton said Harvard “continues to work to strengthen and improve disciplinary processes,” including recently announced updated procedures for fact-finding processes for cases that involve more than one school at the university.

Harvard officials made the announcement July 18 after the University was “challenged” with “a growing number of disciplinary cases involving students from different Schools who are involved in the same event or behavior.”

“Each School is responsible for determining discipline for its own students, the facts informing discipline should not vary depending on what School a particular student attends,” Harvard officials wrote.