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Harvard withheld 13 degrees from students due to their involvement with the 20-day pro-Palestinian protest encampment on Harvard Yard.
Harvard University awarded 11 diplomas to students who were previously denied their degrees over their involvement with the 20-day pro-Palestinian protest encampment on Harvard Yard earlier this year.
Initially, the university withheld diplomas from 13 student demonstrators in late May when the Harvard Corporation, a university governing board, voted against conferring degrees for students “not in good standing.”
A spokesperson for Harvard confirmed that the 11 candidates were “restored to good standing” and referred to the Corporation’s May 22 statement that they would “consider” issuing the degrees if the students completed a disciplinary processes.
“Effective, fair, well understood, and consistently applied processes are vital to how we function as a learning community – and how we reconcile the opportunities to express our views, including through protest and dissent, with our obligations to one another,” Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton said.
Earlier this month, Harvard also reversed its decision to suspend five students by downgrading their punishments to probation periods, the most severe of which was one semester, the Harvard Crimson reported.
The Crimson initially reported the conferring of the 11 degrees. According to the school newspaper, the two other students are blocked from graduating due to outstanding probation sentences through the end of the fall semester.
Withholding degrees led to walk-out at commencement
The withheld degrees were not awarded during this…