The Harvard University Pro-Hamas Encampment Ends, and Administrators Should Be Ashamed

Unlike higher education institutions in states like North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, Harvard has treated their pro-Hamas encampment much like Northwestern University and Columbia University handled their respective occupations - by essentially allowing the lunatics to run the asylum.

Though there have been the more shall we say humorous moments from the encampment, like the one time the sprinklers went off several times in the overnight hours during the "Gaza Solidarity" stand-off with administrators, on balance the agitators have been the ones in the driver's seat, giving the impression that there was no end in sight when it came to the demands they were making of the university.

READ: Hilarity Ensues After Sprinklers Go Off Overnight at Harvard 'Gaza Solidarity' Encampment

As of Tuesday, however, the encampment is no more. And the reason for that is that administrators gave them just about everything they demanded as a condition for taking down the camp ahead of their upcoming commencement ceremonies:

The decision to peacefully end the encampment came after University President Alan M. Garber ’76 and [Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine] HOOP organizers negotiated a peaceful end to the protest. Garber’s administration agreed to promptly begin reinstating at least 22 students from involuntary leaves of absence and offered protesters a meeting with members of the University’s governing boards about divestment.
Harvard spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain confirmed the University will encourage schools to begin processing petitions for reinstatement from involuntary leave.
[...]
The University also agreed to expedite Administrative Board cases for more than 60 students facing charges for their involvement in the encampment with “precedents of leniency for similar actions in the past,” according to the press release.
Members of the encampment will also meet with Garber and Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra to discuss their perspectives on the Israel-Hamas war, according to Swain. HOOP signaled in its Tuesday morning press release that it intended to raise the possibility of establishing a center for Palestine studies in its meeting with Hoekstra.

Needless to say, the news has made some Jewish students feel even more unsafe and unsupported by university officials, as explained by Jewish student Shabbos Kestenbaum in a Twitter mini-thread:

Harvard has agreed today to all of their demands: in exchange for leaving, the antisemites will have their suspension revoked. They will get to meet with the University to discuss a Palestinian Studies department. They will meet with the Corporation to discuss divesting.
— Shabbos Kestenbaum (@ShabbosK) May 14, 2024

Jews here have no allies, no voice, and no advocates. The only way Harvard will ever change is sustained outside pressure. Please help us!
— Shabbos Kestenbaum (@ShabbosK) May 14, 2024