On October 24, 2024, Harvard University administrators banned approximately 25 faculty members from entering the university’s Widener Library for two weeks after they held a silent “study-in” protest.

The protest was held on October 16, 2024. Faculty members were protesting the university’s decision to suspend twelve students from accessing the library for two weeks after they held a similar study-in protesting Israeli military actions in Lebanon (see report).

During their protest, the faculty members sat in the Widener Library reading room, wearing black scarves. They quietly read texts on dissent, including those writings by Martin Luther King Jr. and Henry David Thoreau, George Orwell’s “1984,” and Harvard’s University-Wide Statement on Rights and Responsibilities, and they displaced tent-card displaying quotes from the the Library’s statement of values, such as “Embrace diverse perspectives,” and from the Statement on Rights and Responsibilities, “reasoned dissent plays a particularly vital part in [our] existence.”

Security guards took down the names and faculty ID numbers of those participating in the protest.

On October 24, the faculty members received an email from the Widener Library administration stating that they would be banned from using the library for two weeks. The emailed informed them that, during their suspension, they would “continue to have borrowing privileges and can request pick-up at other library locations,” and that their “online access to library resources and services will not be affected.” They were informed that they could appeal their suspensions by October 29 if they felt that the penalty was made in error. Eighteen faculty members appealed their suspensions. At the time of writing, no information was publicly available on whether their appeals had been accepted or rejected.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about a university taking disciplinary action against members of the faculty in retaliation for exercising their rights to free expression in a manner that is not disruptive. While university authorities should endeavor to prevent disruptions that inappropriately inhibit the functioning of or access to higher education, they must do so consistent with their responsibility to ensure academic freedom and free expression on campus. Even relatively minor disciplinary penalties for non-disruptive actions undermines academic freedom and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2024/10/25/harvard-faculty-suspended-library-over-protest
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2024/10/17/harvard-faculty-hold-library-study-in-demonstration-in-solidarity-with-punished-pro-palestine-students
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/10/25/faculty-members-suspended-harvard-library/
https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2024/11/harvard-library-protests
https://apnews.com/article/harvard-faculty-propalestinian-protests-library-suspension-872d7b9862ecc6463d436eecee45ff12
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/harvard-professors-banned-from-library-after-study-in/3532892/
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/10/31/faculty-appeal-harvard-library-suspensions/