HLS Students Hold Langdell Library ‘Study-in’ to Protest War in Gaza

More than 100 Harvard Law School students protested the war in Israel and Gaza and “Harvard’s complicity in Israel’s genocide” at a silent “study-in” in HLS’ Langdell Library on Thursday.

During the demonstration, participants displayed posters on the backs of their laptops with messages like “Israel is burning people alive” and “Israel bombed a hospital, again.” HLS administrators also scanned participants’ Harvard University IDs, according to Corinne Shanahan, an HLS student and participant in the study-in.

The HLS silent protest marks the latest in a series of similar campus demonstrations.

On Wednesday, 25 Harvard professors conducted a study-in at Widener Library in protest of the University’s decision to ban pro-Palestine organizers from the library following a similar demonstration.

In an email to The Crimson, Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine wrote that the study-in was organized by an “ad-hoc group of students.”

“HOOP was not involved in this study-in,” they added.

A flier distributed at the protest stated that the study-in expressed support for Dissent Collective — the organization that hosted “DisOrientation” earlier this month — and Law Students for a Free Palestine. Both are unrecognized student groups.

The Langdell study-in is also the latest in a series of struggles between pro-Palestine HLS student organizers and the school’s administration. Earlier this month, HLS administrators and pro-Palestine organizers clashed over the usage of “Belinda Hall” — a student lounge in the Caspersen Center that has long served as home to student activism — after administrators reiterated protest guidelines for the space.

HLS spokesperson Jeff Neal declined to comment on the Thursday demonstration.

Before the Thursday study-in, a flyer was posted in several locations around Langdell Library stating that “libraries are not spaces available for protests or demonstrations.”

“University employees may ask to see your Harvard ID,” the posters read, and “violation of the rules may result in revocation of library privileges and/or disciplinary action.”

The same flyer was also distributed to protesters after their IDs were scanned.

During the protest, participants also distributed their own flyer, which stated that “we will stand in solidarity and share our IDs together.”

“This is an intimidation tactic from the school to scare you out of your activism for Palestine,” the flyer said. “A silent study-in is not in violation of any existing university policy.”

“Harvard has never checked my ID for silently studying before,” wrote HLS student Irene Ameena in a press release by the organizers. “Harvard only resorts to threats when people on campus talk about Palestine.”

Students have not yet been contacted about disciplinary action, Shanahan told The Crimson.

—Staff writer S. Mac Healey can be reached at mac.healey@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @MacHealey.

—Staff writer Saketh Sundar can be reached at saketh.sundar@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @saketh_sundar.