Pro-Palestine Protesters Heckle Harvard Donors Attending Annual Dinner With Garber

Roughly 30 pro-Palestine protesters called on the University to divest from war crimes and heckled Harvard donors as they made their way into Widener Library for a dinner to celebrate the school’s top donors.

The event, known as the President’s Associates dinner, is organized for donors who contribute more than $25,000 to the Harvard College Fund. The president of the University hosts the dinner annually on the eve of the Harvard-Yale football game.

Beginning around 6 p.m., protesters from Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine confronted donors amid light rain as they entered through the library’s main entrance and back door while holding banners reading: “As you dine, Gazans die” and “Harvard invests in genocide.”

Protesters attempted to speak with donors as they entered the event, asking if they knew where their donations were going and telling them that they were funding the genocide of Palestinians. While most donors didn’t respond, some rebuffed the protesters, and only one paused before entering to have a conversation with the student activists.

Protesters hold signs reading '40,000 Gazans now are dead' and 'Your donor $s fund death', among others, outside the back entrance to Widener Library. By Julian J. Giordano

Roughly 100 plastic plates were laid out on the steps of Widener, many of them with small electric candles. Protesters lined the steps, holding signs and chanting “40,000 people dead, donors your hands are red” and “Harvard, Harvard we know you, you get rich off genocide too.”

Protesters also handed out pamphlets to donors, which included two proposals for Harvard to commit to divesting from companies associated with human rights abuses.

The proposals called on the Harvard Management Company — which stewards Harvard’s $53.2 billion endowment — to adopt a human rights investment policy statement and to appoint a task force to review its portfolio and “assess any potential exposure to companies implicated in severe violation of human rights.”

Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement that “The University has made its position on divestment clear.”

After most of the donors had entered the event, protesters turned to face the building, chanting and stomping as the rain intensified.

Kojo Acheampong ’26, a pro-Palestine organizer, closed the rally shortly after 7 p.m., saying that students would commit to continuing to protest.

“We’re gonna keep on showing up, we’re gonna keep on fighting back, ‘cause we’re the student movement,” he said.

—Staff writer Julian J. Giordano can be reached at julian.giordano@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @jjgiordano1 or on Threads @julianjgiordano.