Harvard University has reversed its decision to suspend five students for participating in pro-Palestinian encampment protests after sustained faculty pressure.
“The College informed students on Tuesday of their updated disciplinary charges, which saw the suspensions downgraded to probations of varying lengths,” the Crimson reported.
“The most severe probation charge will last for just one semester, a remarkable change from the initial punishments which required at least one student to withdraw from the College for three semesters. Some students who were initially placed on probation in late May also had the length of their probations reduced,” the student newspaper reported Tuesday.
Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, the group that led the 20-day protest, celebrated the news, stating on its Instagram page: “After sustained student and faculty organizing, Harvard has caved in, showing that the student intifada will always prevail.”
Jewish leaders are concerned the development will embolden anti-Israel protesters at the Ivy League school.
“I’m disappointed in this action. I’ve heard the phrase ‘no good deed goes unpunished’ but it seems in this case no good deed goes unreversed,” Rabbi David Wolpe told Jewish Insider. “Punishment is a lesson. Reversing it is permission.”
As The College Fix previously reported, in December Wolpe stepped down from a Harvard task force on antisemitism, saying he was thwarted from making a difference on campus to adequality address antisemitism.
“Dramatic” is how the Crimson described the decision to ease up on the punishments, noting the reversal came less than two months after the “administrative body responsible for the application and enforcement of Harvard College policies prevented 13 seniors from receiving their degrees at Commencement.”
The Crimson reported:
Harvard administrators faced intense backlash from students and faculty members for pursuing disciplinary action against the undergraduates, with several prominent professors slamming the charges as overly harsh and unprecedented. More than 1,000 people also staged a walkout during Harvard’s graduation ceremony over the decision to deny diplomas to the 13 seniors.
The tensions over the disciplinary charges revealed a rift between the Ad Board and a large group of Harvard faculty members who sought to reinstate the sanctioned seniors into the list of degrees for conferral. The FAS rebellion forced the Harvard Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — to choose between siding with its own faculty or the disciplinary board.
It’s not the first time Harvard has flip-flopped in its attempts to take disciplinary and administrative actions against pro-Palestine protesters. The College initially placed 20 members of the encampment on involuntary leaves of absence before reinstating them just days later, after the occupation ended.
National Review, in reporting on the reversal, pointed out the “decision to retract its suspensions for students has raised questions about how seriously Harvard takes its own code of conduct.”
MORE: Harvard antisemitism task force co-chair resigns in frustration over lack of action
IMAGE: Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine / Instagram
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