Pictured:
Unruly
Behavior
In
a
word,
an
Op
Ed
in
The
Crimson
asked
the
Harvard
administration
a
seemingly
rhetorical
question:
You
punished
students
for
studying
in
the
library,
“What’s
next?
Punishing
us?”
As
it
turns
out,
yes!
Harvard
displayed
some
truly
Ivy
League
decision
making
and
decided
to
push
its
own
staff
for
studying
in
the
main
library.
They
were
suspended
from
the
library
for
two
weeks,
much
like
the
students
that
were
punished
for
having
thoughts
near
each
other
weeks
before.
The
Crimson
has
coverage:
Board
members
of
Harvard’s
American
Association
of
University
Professors
chapter
—
several
of
whom,
including
President
Kirsten
A.
Weld
and
Vice
President
Walter
Johnson,
participated
in
the
study-in
—
called
the
decision
to
suspend
professors
“disturbing”
in
a
statement.Weld
and
Johnson
wrote
that
“it
highlights
more
serious
problems
on
Harvard’s
campus:
the
proliferation
of
new
rules
without
meaningful
faculty
oversight
or
even
input,
a
problematic
lack
of
clarity
regarding
the
definition
of
‘protest,’
and
the
administration’s
inclination
to
punish
in
lieu
of
opening
up
dialogue.”Government
professor
Ryan
D.
Enos,
who
also
participated
in
the
study-in,
condemned
the
library’s
decision
to
suspend
faculty
members,
saying
“it’s
very
clear
to
us
that
these
rules
are
being
constructed
on
the
fly.”
Besides
the
ludicrousness
of
the
decision,
the
most
glaring
issue
is
the
precedent
this
sets
for
policing
speech
and
behavior
on
campus
as
a
whole.
Will
students
evenly
displaced
around
the
campus
cafeteria
wear
a
shirt
that
says,
“Bombing
children
is
bad”
risk
being
suspended
from
the
mess
hall?
If
a
professor
walking
in
the
Harvard
Yard
wears
a
pin
that
says,
“It
is
barbaric
to
assassinate
a
Chief
Negotiator
during
peace
talks,”
will
that
lead
to
demerits
of
some
kind?
Is
merely
wearing
either
of
those
things
sufficient
to
label
either
actor
as
a
protestor?
Is
Harvard’s
ability
to
weather
the
storm
of
intellectual
exchange
so
weak
that
wearing
a
wrist
band
stating,
“Children
shouldn’t
be
starved
and
deprived
of
clean
water,”
in
the
library
means
security
will
be
called
if
you
come
back
to
go
over
your
lesson
plans
the
next
day?
Because
that’s
what
it
looks
like
right
now.
It
is
reflexive
to
talk
about
time
place
and
manner
restrictions
placed
on
protest,
but
when
the
restrictions
are
being
made
up
on
a
case
by
case
basis
and,
this
part
bears
repeating,
no
clear
definition
on
what
constitutes
a
campus
protest,
it
doesn’t
bode
well
for
the
state
of
campus
speech.
God
bless
whichever
political
science
professors
at
Harvard
are
scheduled
to
teach
a
class
on
the
importance
of
protest
after
this.
Faculty
Members
Suspended
From
Harvard’s
Main
Library
After
‘Study-In’
Protest
[The
Crimson]
Earlier:
So
Much
For
Free
Speech:
Harvard
Law
Students
Punished
For
Reading
Together
At
Campus
Library
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
cannot
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected] and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.