Tensions were high at Harvard and MIT Monday as the schools threatened to crack down on groups camping out as part of ongoing pro-Palestinian protests across the country.
Harvard University said Monday that the people who have been camped out on Harvard Yard for over a week in a pro-Palestinian protest face being placed on involuntary leave, which, among other things, would require them to leave campus until they are reinstated.
MIT's president made a similar announced Monday, giving protesters a 2:30 p.m. deadline to leave or face suspensions. Video from the scene just before the deadline showed police in neon safety vests entering the encampment. Some protesters tried to push them back, leading to a small clash near the entrance. The pushing and shoving went on for about a minute before it stopped.
Most protesters left, but some then tore down the metal gates that had been set up around the tents and reclaimed the center of the campus.
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"The people are speaking," said pro-Palestinian protester Prahlad Iyengar. "This is a spontaneous thing that the people do because the people know that our message is right."
At Harvard University, Interim President Alan Garber issued a statement to the community Monday morning saying the protesters at Harvard have a right to free speech, but not an unlimited one.
"The continuation of the encampment presents a significant risk to the educational environment of the University. Those who participate in or perpetuate its continuation will be referred for involuntary leave from their Schools," Garber wrote.
Later Monday, protesters marched about half a mile from the encampments at Harvard to Garber's house.
The interim president wasn't there. Members of the group chanted, "Alan Garbage."
On Massachusetts Avenue, dozens of high school students took to the street in support of the pro-Palestinian protesters at MIT, closing down the busy roadway for several hours.
"In history class, we're always taught about how student activism is at the forefront for these pivotal moments in our country's history," said Lexington High School student Alma Shawer.
Many Jewish students at MIT, some of whom held their own rallies Monday, say they're disgusted by the chants at the pro-Palestinian protests, which they consider antisemitic.
"I'm walking around with an American flag," said Jewish student Talia Khan. "They're saying, 'Shame,' 'Boo,' they're spitting at me. They're anti-Western values, they're anti-democracy, they're anti-freedom."
They say the encampments should never have been allowed because they violate MIT's policy and school leaders have failed to protect Jewish students. And they say the protesters have failed to accomplish their goals.
"The moment they start doing illegal things, or doing encampments, or sit-downs in the middle of the road, what do they get with this?" asked Jewish student Katya Boukin. "Nothing."
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators across the country, who are calling on their schools to end any financial dealings with Israel's military, say they are standing up for what they believe in.
"What happens next is purely the decision of the MIT administration," said pro-Palestinian protester Sam Ihns. "Our stance is the same as it's always been. We still want to cut direct research ties with the Israeli Ministry of Defense."
"At this hour, public protests continue on and around Massachusetts Avenue. Following the arrival of demonstrators from outside MIT, protesters breached fencing around the lawn and formed a circle around the remaining tents," a school spokesperson said in a statement Monday night. "MIT, Cambridge and State police remain on the scene to preserve public safety."
The spokesperson went on to say that no arrests had been made, "counter to misinformation circulating online."
The two elite universities in Cambridge are among the dozens of college campuses where protesters have urged the Israel-Hamas War continues — though Hamas said Monday it had accepted a ceasefire proposal brokered by mediators, one Israel was reviewing. Both Harvard and MIT have so far avoided the police interventions seen at other campuses locally and nationally.
Harvard has previously said that students and others affiliated with the university at the encampment have faced disciplinary action, but Monday's move noted that students who have been in the unauthorized encampment faced disciplinary action.
It wasn't immediately clear when the students who are part of the encampment would be placed on involuntary leave. Garber said that being placed on that status means the students "may not be able to sit for exams, may not continue to reside in Harvard housing, and must cease to be present on campus until reinstated."
Harvard's commencement is set for May 23, part of a larger week of graduation events, many of which are scheduled for Harvard Yard.
In announcing stiff sanctions for students protesting past 2:30 p.m. Monday, MIT President Sally Kornbluth cited a recent update from an MIT committee on academic freedom and expression that found that occupying a shared resource against the rules is not protected by freedom of expression, and that part of civil disobedience is being willing to face discipline.
"I hoped these measures could be avoided through our efforts to engage the students in serious good-faith discussion. But recent events, and my responsibility to ensure the physical safety of our community, oblige us to act now," she said in the statement.
"We have much work still to do to resolve the situation, and will continue to communicate as needed," Kornbluth said in a later statement.
Students who leave the encampment voluntarily by the deadline will receive a warning if they don't already have any pending disciplinary cases involving the conflict in Gaza. If they have been sanctioned or have a pending case before the university's Committee on Discipline but leave voluntarily, doing so will be considered a mitigating factor in the review of their case.
Those who stay will be suspended, according to the statement. Members of the community who haven't already been disciplined will get an interim academic suspension that would allow them to remain on camus but not particiate in academic activities, commencement or co-curricular activities. Those have had cases before the Committee on Discipline will get an interim full suspension that requires them to leave campus immediately.
The statement didn't mention whether MIT intends to remove the encampment.
