The Encampment is Safe and Peaceful. Harvard Must Keep it That Way.

Harvard knew it was coming.

Bulletins taped to the gates announced the closure of Harvard Yard and, pointedly, a rule against erecting tents there. Security guards stationed at the entrances checked Harvard IDs. Inside, the Yard was quiet.

Then, Wednesday afternoon, it finally happened. Students rushed through Harvard Yard pitching tents to demand the University’s divestment from “Israel, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the occupation of Palestine.” They join a wave of protests on campuses across the country that began at Columbia University last week.

Despite rising tensions between the protestors and Harvard’s administrators — and the chaos erupting at other colleges — the first day of the Harvard encampment was marked by relative tranquility.

Protesters left walkways unobstructed, demonstrated peacefully, observed campus quiet hours, and used trained safety marshals to de-escalate any confrontations that might arise near what they’re calling the Harvard Liberated Zone. There has been no evidence, either, of the disgusting antisemitic incidents that took place on Columbia’s campus in the past week.

The University deserves some credit for this tranquility. In closing the Yard to outsiders and opting not to disperse the protest immediately, the University acted wisely to create conditions more conducive to constructive engagement.

Now, the challenge is to keep them. As the chaos at Harvard’s peer schools makes painfully clear, that means one thing: Don’t call the police on peaceful protests.

At the University of Texas at Austin, law enforcement kneeled on students and a protester was punched by state troopers. At New York University, a clash between police officers and protestors resulted in bottle-throwing and pepper spray. At Columbia, droves of outside protestors swarmed to campus gates after the New York Police Department cleared student protestors — before, that is, the tents returned in greater numbers just a few hours later.

To be sure, there are protests that warrant dispersal. But the experience of the last several weeks shows that it has often been unwise, and our experience of the encampment at Harvard so far — not disruptive, not offensive, not threatening — makes clear that we could not be further from needing the police.

As for the demands of the protestors, we know Harvard won’t capitulate to every request, but that doesn’t mean it should do nothing, either. The University owes its protesters the dignity of a conversation about their demands — beginning, perhaps, with the not-unreasonable request that it disclose more information about its billions in investments.

The protestors have done their part; now, Harvard’s leadership must do theirs. Heading into day two of the encampment, students — protesters and non-protestors alike — are safe. Harvard must keep it that way.

This staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.

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