Harvard Warned of a Police Response to Campus Protests. Here’s What HUPD Can Actually Do.

Just before the pro-Palestine encampment ended last spring, the Harvard University Police Department told a group of University affiliates that officers would only use their authority to enforce state law on campus.

A few months later, the Harvard administration issued a series of warnings to student protesters, notifying affiliates that the University would call on police in the case of “substantial disruption.”

The move left students wondering where the line fell between enforcement of state law and administrative policies — and whether Harvard could instruct HUPD to arrest student protesters.

While University spokespeople declined to clarify the relationship between Harvard’s administration and HUPD, campus police emphasized their role in enforcing state law — not University protest policies.

Just before the academic year began, Harvard Executive Vice President Meredith L. Weenick ’90 sent an email to University affiliates stating that students engaging in protests violating University policy should be “prepared to be held accountable.”

“Where there is substantial disruption of the normal operations of our campus, University police may remove or remediate the disruption,” Weenick wrote.

She added that Campus Use Rules are intended to “ensure community safety, security, and well-being,” as well as “compliance with federal, state, and local laws.”

But in a May meeting, HUPD personnel assured members of the HUPD Advisory Board — a group of Harvard affiliates who provide feedback on departmental transparency — that officers will only engage with student protests as a last resort, according to an attendee. HUPD representatives maintained during the meeting that their role is to ensure public safety, with the goal of remaining as hands-off as possible.

This stance came as the University contended with the 20-day pro-Palestinian encampment in Harvard Yard, which defined much of the spring semester. In a May interview with The Crimson during the encampment, HUPD Chief Victor A. Clay similarly said that officers are only authorized to enforce Massachusetts state law.

“You can’t ask me to arrest somebody unless they commit a misdemeanor in your presence or in my presence,” he said. “Whatever the guidelines of the Mass. General Law states, that gives me the authority to arrest.”

According to the HUPD website, the department’s “statutory authority” lies in enforcing state law, which allows them to “arrest for criminal offenses” committed on University property.

As student activism returns to campus this fall, both HUPD and Harvard spokespeople declined to clarify how campus police and administrators will collaborate to ensure campus safety and compliance to policy.

—Staff writer Sally E. Edwards can be reached at sally.edwards@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @sallyedwards04 or on Threads @sally_edwards06.

—Staff writer Asher J. Montgomery can be reached at asher.montgomery@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @asherjmont or on Threads @asher_montgomery.