Two Harvard Law School Clinics Sign Statement to Protect Campus Speech

Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic and Human Rights Entrepreneurs Clinic signed onto a joint statement calling on university administrators to protect free speech during the nationwide surge in campus protests, citing several Harvard policies as examples of problematic protest restrictions.

The statement — co-signed by more than 25 law school centers and clinics — comes as Harvard began to discipline pro-Palestine student activists staging an encampment in Harvard Yard, which entered its eighth day on Wednesday.

No protesters have been arrested at Harvard, where the encampment has remained peaceful, but widespread student arrests have been made at universities including Columbia University, Yale University, and Emerson College.

“We are deeply concerned that many of our universities are undermining human rights by enlisting police forces to disperse and arrest nonviolent student protestors calling for Palestinian human rights,” the letter states, adding that more than “700 students, faculty, and staff” have been arrested at demonstrations.

“Across academic institutions, we are witnessing the chilling of speech and closing of civic space,” the letter states.

The letter cited the decision to close Harvard Yard as an example of when “university administrators have abruptly closed student common spaces when protests were planned.”

The letter similarly cited a January statement from top Harvard leadership, including interim Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 as an example of when university administrators have “issued new interpretations and guidelines to expand restrictions on assembly.”

The January statement included new “Guidance on Protest and Dissent” which sought to clarify existing protest policies found in the Statement on Rights and Responsibilities. Garber’s statement did not add new protest rules, though it clarified that protests were essentially limited to reserved outdoor areas.

“Students have also raised concerns regarding university administrators’ failures to adequately protect those who have been doxxed for their protected free speech, even when students have faced threats of physical and sexual violence,” the letter said, referring to a a December article from The Crimson in which pro-Palestinian students said they felt a lack of institutional support after facing doxxing attacks. .

“These actions call into question our universities’ commitment to respecting human rights,” they added.

Harvard University spokesperson Jason A. Newton declined to comment and referred to an April 8 statement from the University which condemned doxxing as “reprehensible and appalling behavior.”

The statement comes after the American Civil Liberties Union released an open letter on Friday calling for better protections of student protests and free speech on college campuses.

The Massachusetts branch of the ACLU also sent a letter to Harvard’s general counsel last Wednesday criticizing the decision to suspend the Palestine Solidarity Committee and the University’s lack of clarity on protest guidelines.

The letter called for university administrators to allow peaceful congregation, refrain from calling the police on peaceful protesters, “cease and rescind punitive disciplinary measures against students for peacefully organizing,” and to protect the rights of university affiliates to engage in free speech.

“We urge our institutions to respect the human rights of our students, faculty, and staff,” the letter said.

—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.