Around noon Wednesday, a few hundred students gathered outside Harvard’s University Hall, protesting the university’s suspension of the Palestine Solidarity Committee, the leading pro-Palestinian student group on campus.
They chanted, marched, and cheered, holding Palestinian flags and signs as they went around Harvard Yard, which was closed to the public by the university this week; only students, faculty, and staff are allowed to enter and exit the yard through a few limited openings.
About an hour later, some people started setting up orange tents inside the yard, its crisscrossing paths usually trod by tourists and other visitors in addition to students.
Similar scenes of student-led, pro-Palestinian encampments started Sunday night at MIT, Emerson College, and Tufts University — where the tents remained this afternoon.
Students leaving the yard after participating in the rally said spirits among student protesters seemed high as tents were being set up.
There was a moment of tension when demonstrators heard sirens, during which they joined together to form a human barricade around the newly-erected encampment, the students said. But the sirens passed by.
Tents, food, and water for the Harvard Yard encampment were in direct violation of signs posted outside the yard, which said, “Structures, including tents and tables, are not permitted in the yard without prior permission.”
Meanwhile, outsiders looked in through the gates surrounding the yard.
“If they head out here, I’ll join them,” said Marty Blatt, 73, a retired Northeastern University professor who came to join the rally but was stopped outside the gates, where security guards are asking people to show Harvard IDs in order to enter.
“I knew that the yard was closed,” Blatt said. “I thought … that we would form out here and we’d all be on the outside looking in.”
While students rallied in the yard, a giant inflatable of a watermelon — a symbol of the pro-Palestinian movement — was visible from outside the gates.
In addition to closing the yard, Harvard College this week suspended the leading pro-Palestinian student group on campus, the Palestine Solidarity Committee.
Students who spoke with the Globe said they were not surprised by the decision, citing backlash the group received and concerns expressed over safety on campuses given the events at Columbia and other universities.
Some said they were disappointed with the suspension, seeing it as a repression of free speech, while others were more sympathetic to the balance between expression and safety facing campuses in the current climate.
“Speech that is controversial has a role on college campuses,” said Cosmo Albrecht, 27, a Harvard law student. “The university does have a duty, at the same time, to keep student life running.”
This morning, the Palestine Solidarity Committee said on social media it was holding a noon rally outside the university’s Massachusetts Hall, “to let Harvard know: you can suspend PSC, but you can’t suspend the movement.”
On Tuesday, most gates providing access to the yard had signs that read, in bold red lettering, “Harvard Yard will be closed today,” and redirecting people to the five open gates, which were guarded by a security officer checking for Harvard IDs.
Some students said it seemed there was more of a security and police presence than in past instances when the yard has been closed, such as for the inauguration of former university president Claudine Gay .
The signs also warned that tents and tables “are not permitted in the yard without prior permission.”
“I think that they’re probably concerned about the protests that have happened at other universities occurring here,” Albrecht said. “I also think it’s a deterrent mechanism to stop large groups from congregating.”
Students, both graduate and undergraduate, said they didn’t receive official communication from the university about the closure or the reasoning behind it.
Still, many figured the closure was in response to pro-Palestinian encampments on other campuses and ensuing arrests at Columbia University, Yale University, and New York University, and similar demonstrations at MIT.
Harvard did not respond to questions about whether students were informed about the closure.
The university issued a statement saying: “We shifted to [Harvard University ID] access only to stay ahead of potential issues with non-Harvard recognized groups.”
The Harvard Crimson reported that “an email sent to students and staff who work in the Yard stated that the closures are being done ‘out of an abundance of caution and with the safety of our community as a priority.’”
Jide Anekwe, a first-year student, said she is disappointed with the college’s closure of the yard, as well as its suspension of the Palestine Solidarity Committee.
“If the university wants to stop protests, maybe they should listen to the protesters or at least try to have that dialogue,” Anekwe said as she walked outside the yard’s gates on Massachusetts Avenue.
Anekwe said she thinks Harvard’s response to the violence in Gaza, and the related unrest on campus, has been “lackluster.” While she said she doesn’t expect the university to take “any radical stances,” she feels the administration hasn’t considered the perspective of students, especially students of color.
“I really don’t expect much from the institution,” Anekwe said. “I’m really just here to get my degree and go.”
Anekwe said that most students she has talked to say they’re relieved for a less-crowded yard.
“At the end of the day, life still goes on,” Anekwe said. “People are just happy that they don’t have to walk past crowds of tourists to get to class on time.”
