Thirteen graduating students from Harvard University were denied their degrees due to their active involvement in a pro-Palestine protest on campus. Despite receiving support from the majority of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Harvard Corporation, the governing body of the university, made the decision to postpone their graduation.
These students, who have worked hard at one of the world’s most esteemed educational institutions, will have to wait at least one year to receive their degrees. The decision was made after their participation in a three-week pro-Palestine encampment held at the university last month.
As a result, these students were unable to receive their degrees during the graduation ceremony held on May 23. The Harvard Corporation deemed their involvement in the protest as grounds for withholding their degrees.
“I am waiting for my appeals decision to come out,” 23-year-old Asmer Asrar Safi, an international student of social studies and ethnicity, migration, and rights at Harvard College, said to Al Jazeera.
He said: “I am a Rhodes Scholar and trying to ascertain if I can matriculate at the University of Oxford given that my Harvard degree has been withheld for a year, even though I have met all the academic conditions for my program and have completed my degree requirements.”
“After having completed the appeal application on my end, we seem to be in a limbo as we wait for communication from the university. Students and faculty members are all quite confused by the ambiguity of the process, and the timeline for appeals is unclear,” another student, Shraddha Joshi, told Al Jazeera.
“I was supposed to go to the University of Cambridge with the Harvard-UK Fellowship, but my plans are now in flux due to my degree status. The lack of transparency and poor communication from administrators make it difficult to predict what our next steps will look like,” she added.
Safi says he has been working on pro-Palestine causes at the Harvard campus since 2020, helping organize various events.
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“Shraddha and I have planned various events regarding our divestment campaign, which has grown tremendously over the last few months, with students being forced to contend with the university’s complicity in the crimes committed against Palestinians,” he said.
During the recent Harvard University graduation ceremony, Shruthi Kumar, an Indian American student from Nebraska, deviated from her script and strongly criticized the university for its arbitrary actions against students who were protesting against Israel’s ongoing conflict in Gaza. As she delivered her English commencement remarks, Shruthi took a moment to acknowledge the 13 undergraduates from the class of 2024 who were being denied their graduation.
Shruthi’s bold statement resonated with many, as over 1,000 Harvard University students immediately staged a walkout in solidarity with the affected undergraduates. This act of support aimed to draw attention to the university’s handling of the situation and show unity with those who were facing consequences for their activism.
