From Axios:
And then, of course, 90 years ago, there was this. You know, all those "smart" people:
Harvard students walk out of commencement to protest encampment punishments
Mike Deehan
Over 1,000 Harvard University graduates walked out of their commencement ceremony Thursday in protest of the school's decision to bar some students who participated in pro-Palestinian encampments from getting their degrees.
Why it matters: After encampments and demonstrations on campuses across the country were shut down by police and college administrators, students are maintaining their anti-war push and their demands that universities divest from Israeli companies.
State of play: As they left the Harvard Yard ceremony, students chanted "let them walk" and proceeded to a nearby church to hold what they called a "people's commencement."
- They honored the 13 undergraduate students the university disciplined.
What they're saying: "As a Palestinian who has been betrayed and abandoned by the University, I cannot tell you how much it means to me that all of you walked out in solidarity with the Palestinian people," Harvard Law School graduate Lea H. Kayali said, according to the Harvard Crimson.
Catch up quick: Harvard began suspending student protesters two weeks ago as final exams began. Suspended students are not allowed to take exams or walk at commencement.
Faculty members voted to excuse the 13 students this week, but the university's board overruled them.
And then, of course, 90 years ago, there was this. You know, all those "smart" people:
Nazism: Harvard University and the Hitler Regime, 1933-1937
STEPHEN H. NORWOOD
The Harvard University administration during the 1930s, led by President James Bryant Conant, ignored numerous opportunities to take a principled stand against the Hitler regime and its antisemitic outrages, and contributed to Nazi Germany's efforts to improve its image in the West. Its lack of concern about Nazi antisemitism was shared by many influential Harvard alumni and student leaders. In warmly welcoming Nazi leaders to the Harvard campus, inviting them to prestigious, high-profile social events, and striving to build friendly relations with thoroughly Nazified universities in Germany, while denouncing those who protested against these actions, Harvard's administration and many of its student leaders offered important encouragement to the Hitler regime as it intensified its persecution of Jews and expanded its military strength.
NORWOOD, STEPHEN H. “Legitimating Nazism: Harvard University and the Hitler Regime, 1933–1937.” American Jewish History, vol. 92, no. 2, 2004, pp. 189–223.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23887353. Accessed 12 Oct. 2023.
