Harvard suspends library access for protesting faculty

Harvard University has temporarily banned about 25 faculty members from entering the Widener Library after they protested in a silent “study” against the school’s disciplining of a group of pro-Hamas student demonstrators.

“The faculty study-in protested the library’s decision to similarly suspend student protesters who conducted a pro-Palestinian study last month,” according to the school’s student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson. reported.

The suspension lasts two weeks.

“During the faculty study, professors silently read material on free speech and dissent while placing signs regarding free speech and university policies on the tables in front of them,” The Crimson reported. “As they did so, Securitas guards took down their names and ID numbers.”

So do the Harvard Crimson reported that the faculty wore black scarves during the protest. The texts they read were “about dissent, bureaucracy and censorship,” such as Franz Kafka’s The Trial of George Orwell’s 1984, as well as the University-Wide Statement on Rights and Responsibilities, which the paper says “Harvard officials have used to imposing sanctions on activists who violate protest guidelines.”

“Study-ins are a silent form of protest,” says Harvard University librarian Martha Whitehead said in an edition.

“Some would argue that this is not disruptive,” and that it is “no different than the free speech of an individual using a laptop with political stickers or wearing a T-shirt with a political message,” she said.

Others believe that “it is inherently disruptive and contrary to the purpose of a library reading room,” Whitehead said.

“We are concerned that even if there is no noise, a group of people putting up signs could turn the reading room from a place for individual learning and reflection into a forum for public statements,” Whitehead said.

“Librarians have a responsibility to protect library spaces for their intended use,” Whitehead said. “Although a reading room is intended for studying, it is not intended to be used as a location for a group action, silent or otherwise, to attract people’s attention.”

The Center Square reached out to Whitehead twice by email for comment and received no response.

The Harvard Library told The Center Square that it “does not comment on individual matters related to library access or privileges,” and sent a link to Whitehead’s essay.

Alex Morey, vice president of campus advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told The Center Square that this situation at Harvard is one the group is “monitoring closely.”

“Silent protest is an important aspect of a healthy culture of free speech in any democracy,” Morey said. “It is especially important in higher education, where we want maximum tolerance for debate and discussion. Harvard’s own high-level free speech policy says the same thing.”

“By definition, silent protest is usually not disruptive, which means it can be a great way for students or teachers to speak out,” Morey said.

“Like many other schools, Harvard has struggled to cut the cord when it comes to punishing misconduct and protecting protests after October. 7,” Morey said.

Morey also said that “Harvard seems to want to protect its library space as sacred, and that is fair.”

“Many institutions prohibit planned indoor protests because they can disrupt the study environment,” Morey said. “One problem is that Harvard’s broad bar on silent protest is so vague that it could trap students or faculty who happen to wear political T-shirts or have laptop stickers advocating for a cause.”

“Policies that don’t tell students or teachers exactly what they can or cannot do have a very real chilling effect,” Morey said.

“This situation also reveals something curious about the institution’s priorities,” Morey said.

“There is a universe of real concerns that Harvard is facing right now in terms of censorship and protest,” Morey said. “It seems strange that they would draw a hard line on this particular kind of silent, symbolic expression.”

Center Square contacted Harvard spokesman Jonathan L. Swain twice by email for comment but received no response.